ii 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


MEREDITH  WILLSON  LIBRARY 
STANLEY  RING  COLLECTION 


f6*-- 


/?(?3 


"Bhe  Organ  and 
Its  Mocsters 


A  Short  Account  of  the  Most  Celebrated 
Organists  of  Former  Days^  as  Well  as 
Some  of  the  More  Prominent  Organ  Virtuosi 
of  the  Present  Time^  Together  with  a  Brief 
Sketch  of  the  Development  of  Organ  Con- 
struction^  Organ   Music y  and  Organ  Playing 


» 
^ 
^ 
» 
* 
^ 
^ 


^ 


By 
HENRY    C.    LAHEE 

Author    of    "Famous     Singers,"    "Famous    Pianists," 
**  Famous  Violinists,"  **  Grand  Opera  in  America,"  etc. 


Illustrated 


» 

^ 


BOSTON         ^ 
L.     C.     PAGE    & 

q^^  ^y^  4^^  9^^ 


9£^  (p*  %3^ 

COMPANY 
MDCCCCIJI 


» 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.jp^^^^^^^^^^^j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^, 


Copyright,  igo2 

By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 
(incorporatbd) 

All  rights  reserved 


Published,  September,  1902 


ffolonfal  IPtres 

Eloctrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  SImonds  &  Co. 

Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


Music 
LibraiX 

ML 

laOO 

l\-bcr 
PREFACE      ,c^oZ 

This  book  is  intended  to  fill,  or  partly  fill,  a 
vacancy  in  musical  literature,  by  gathering  under  one 
cover  a  tolerably  consecutive  account  of  the  noted 
organists  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  in  touch  with 
the  development  of  organ-building  and  of  organ- 
playing. 

As  we  come  down  to  modern  times,  and  especially 
in  the  chapter  on  American  organists,  the  task  of 
selection  becomes  more  and  more  difficult.  It  is 
obviously  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  volume 
to  mention  more  than  a  very  small  portion  of  those 
who  are  excellent  musicians,  and  it  has  been  found 
practicable  to  mention  only  a  limited  number  of 
those  who  have  been  most  prominent  as  concert 
organists. 

The  greater  part  of  the  biographical  work  has 
been  compiled  from  the  most  reliable  books  of  refer- 
ence, and  much  concerning  the  older  organists  has 
been  extracted  from  such  authorities  as  Spitta,  in 
his  life  of  Bach.  The  writer  is  also  indebted  for 
much  valuable  assistance  to  Mr,  Everett  E.  Truette 
and  to  Mr,  J.  Wallace  Goodrich,  for  matters  pertain- 
ing to  more  recent  years. 


1496770 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


I.  A  Preliminary  Account  of  Early  Organs  i 

II.  Early  Continental  Okganists    ...  7 

III.  Early  English  Organists    ....  28 

IV.     PuRCELL  TO  Handel 49 

V.  Johann  Sebastian  Bach        ....  74 

VI.  The  Contemporaries  and  Pupils  of  Bach  100 

VII.  English    Organists    of    the    Eighteenth 

Century 121 

VIII.  Modern  Continental  Organists         .        .138 

IX.    English  Organists 186 

X.     American  Organists 239 

XI.     Organ  -  Building 300 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


JoHANN  Sebastian  Bach     ....       Frontispiece 

GiROLAMO    FrESCOBALDI 26 

Henry  Purcell 52 

Georg  Friedrich  Handel 92 

Johann  Christian  Heinrich  Rinck  .  .112 

Gustav  Merkel »         .152 

Joseph  Gabriel  Rheinberger 156 

Alexandre  Guilmant  .  .  .  .  •  •  i74 
The  Organ  of  St.  Sulpice,  Paris,  France  .        .178 

William  Thomas  Best 200 

Console    of    the    Organ    in    the    Town    Hall, 

Sydney,  N.  S.  W 208 

The  Brattle  Organ 240 

The  Organ  of  the  Music  Hall,  Cincinnati,  O.  .  243 
The   Organ   of   the    Old    Music    Hall,   Boston, 

Mass 255 


THE    ORGAN    AND    ITS   MASTERS 


CHAPTER    I. 

A  PRELIMINARY  ACCOUNT  OF  EARLY  ORGANS 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  the  purpose  of  this  book, 
to  enter  at  length  into  the  early  history  of  the  organ, 
and  to  trace  its  evolution  from  the  pan-pipe,  bagpipe, 
and  instruments  of  such  nature,  most  of  which  are 
familiar  objects  at  the  present  day. 

The  history  of  the  organ  properly  begins  at  a 
time  when  mechanical  means  for  supplying  the  wind 
were  first  used,  and  this  date  is  far  back  in  ancient 
history. 

Ctesibius,  a  native  of  Alexandria,  is  said  to  have 
built  a  hydraulic  organ  (the  wind  being  supplied  by 
water  pressure),  about  the  year  200  b.  c,  and  instru- 
ments of  this  description  were  in  use  for  more  than 
one  thousand  years. 

The  pneumatic  organ  was  also  in  use  at  a  very 
early  period,  and  numerous  references  are  to  be  found 


2  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

in  literature  of  various  times  from  a.  d.  363.  By- 
pneumatic  organ  is  meant  an  organ  to  which  the 
wind  is  supplied  by  bellows,  and  it  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  modern  pneumatic  action,  which  is, 
of  course,  a  very  different  matter. 

The  next  point  of  general  historical  interest  is  the 
time  at  which  the  organ  was  first  used  in  public 
religious  services,  and  this  is  said  to  have  been  in 
the  time  of  Pope  Vitalian  I.,  about  a.  d.  666,  though 
there  are  indications  that  it  was  used  in  this  manner 
some  two  hundred  years  earlier,  in  the  churches  of 
Spain. 

The  early  records  of  the  art  of  organ  building 
show  that  it  was  known  in  England  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  eighth  century,  and  commenced  in 
France  about  the  middle  of  the  same  century. 

Pepin,  King  of  the  Franks,  the  father  of  Charle- 
magne, is  said  to  have  sent  a  deputation  to  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  requesting  him  to  send  an 
organ  to  France,  and  in  a.  d.  757  the  request  was 
complied  with,  and  the  organ  placed  in  the  church  of 
St.  Corneille,  at  Compiegne. 

Organs  are  said  to  have  been  introduced  into  Ger- 
many about  A.  D.  811,  when  Charlemagne  had  one 
made  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  similar  to  that  which  was 
at  Compiegne,  but  what  disposition  was  made  of  it 
is  not  recorded. 

Charlemagne's  love  for  the  organ  seems  to  have 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  3 

been  noised  abroad,  for  about  a.  d.  822  the  Caliph 
Haroun  Alraschid  presented  to  him  an  organ  built 
by  an  Arab  named  Giafur.  There  is  also  some 
indication  that  Venice  became  noted  for  its  organ 
builders  about  this  period. 

During  the  succeeding  century  both  the  French 
and  Germans  are  supposed  to  have  made  rapid  strides 
in  organ  building,  and  to  have  surpassed  the  Italians. 

Returning  to  England,  —  there  are  somewhat 
detailed  accounts  of  a  great  organ  which  was  erected 
in  the  old  church  at  Winchester,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  noise  (or  music)  of  this  organ  could  be  heard 
throughout  the  town.  This  instrument  was  described 
at  length  in  a  Latin  poem  by  a  monk  named  Wul- 
stan,  and  it  may  here  be  remarked  that  for  many 
years  the  duty  of  operating  the  organ  (it  could  hardly 
yet  be  called  playing)  was  an  ecclesiastical  function, 
and  was  performed  by  the  monks.  This  organ  of 
Winchester  was  worked  by  "two  brethren  of  con- 
cordant spirit,"  and  the  tone  "reverberated  and 
echoed  in  every  direction,  so  that  no  one  was  able  to 
draw  near  and  hear  the  sound,  but  had  to  stop  with 
his  hands  his  gaping  ears,"  etc.  The  organ  was  not 
yet  a  solo  instrument,  except  in  the  sense  that  noth- 
ing else  could  be  heard  while  it  was  in  operation. 
The  name  "Bumbulum^"  in  use  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  this  period  (the  tenth  century),  seems  very 
appropriate,  for  the  tones  of  the  organ  could  only 


4  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

have  been  sustained,  owing  to  the  very  crude  method 
of  producing  them,  and  the  harmonies  were  such  as 
would  strike  eternal  terror  into  the  soul  of  the 
modern  churchgoer. 

Up  to  this  period  the  organ  seems  to  have  been 
worked  chiefly  by  means  of  shdes,  which  opened  and 
closed  the  wind  passages  to  the  pipes,  but  now  the 
keyboard  appeared  ;  first  in  the  form  of  levers,  so 
that  the  delicacy  of  touch  and  rapidity  of  action 
might  be  compared  to  that  of  a  switchman  in  a  rail- 
way signal  box  of  modern  times.  The  lever  grad- 
ually developed  into  the  keyboard,  of  which  the  first 
specimens  contained  from  nine  to  eleven  keys,  each 
from  five  to  nine  inches  wide.  These  were  struck 
with  the  fists  or  elbows.  An  organ  in  the  cathedral 
at  Magdeburg  had  sixteen  keys.  During  the  four- 
teenth century  keyboards  grew,  until  the  number  of 
keys  reached  about  three  octaves.  More  gentle 
methods  of  playing  were  now  possible,  and  fingers 
were  used  instead  of  fists.  An  organ  in  the  ca- 
thedral at  Halberstadt,  built  in  1359  0^  1361,  by 
Nicholas  Faber,  had  fourteen  diatonic  and  eight 
chromatic  keys,  and  four  claviers,  of  which  one  was 
of  pedals. 

This  organ  had  twenty  bellows,  requiring  ten  men 
to  supply  the  wind.  Bellows  have  also  undergone 
some  improvement  since  this  period,  when  it  was 
customary  for  the  blowers  to  operate  directly  upon 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  5 

the  bellows,  which  were  fitted  with  a  kind  of  shoe  on 
the  upper  edge.  A  long  bar,  breast  high,  gave  sup- 
port to  the  operators,  who,  holding  on  to  it,  placed 
each  foot  in  a  shoe  and  "  walked  "  the  wind  into  the 
organ. 

Pedals  are  supposed  to  have  been  invented  by  one 
Albert  Van  Os,  about  11 20  a.  d.,  but  the  invention 
is  also  attributed  to  Ludwig  Van  Valbeke,  of  Brabant, 
and  again  to  a  German  named  Bernhard,  who  probably 
improved,  but  did  not  invent,  the  pedal. 

This  Albert  Van  Os  built  the  organ  of  the  St. 
Nicholas  Church,  at  Utrecht,  and  is  the  earliest  organ- 
builder  of  whom  any  authentic  account  exists.  Fol- 
lowing him  there  comes  a  long  list  of  skilful  builders, 
each  in  his  turn  contributing  something  toward  the 
improvement  and  development  of  that  which  has  be- 
come the  grandest  of  all  instruments. 

England,  France,  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands  all 
had  their  organ  -  builders.  Organ  -  building  became 
a  regular  profession  or  trade,  and  improvements  fol- 
lowed one  another  in  rapid  succession.  According 
to  Doctor  Burney,  great  organs  and  great  organists 
seem,  for  more  than  two  centuries,  to  have  been  the 
natural  growth  of  Germany, 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  this  sketch, 
to  follow  out  all  the  mechanical  improvements  in 
organs.  Better  organs  made  possible  the  skilful 
organist,  and  he,  in  turn,  developed  new  possibilities 


6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

in  the  organ.  The  ecclesiastical  drudge  was  finally 
emancipated  from  the  operation  of  the  organ,  and 
organ-playing  became  an  art. 

Crude  as  such  an  instrument  as  that  played  by 
Bach  appears  to  the  organist  of  to-day,  it  was  an  im- 
mense improvement  over  the  old  instrument,  already 
mentioned,  at  Winchester,  of  which  the  compass  did 
not  exceed  ten  notes,  and  these  were  operated  with 
levers. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  out  these  develop- 
ments, which  affect  every  portion  of  the  instrument 
as  well  as  the  organist,  but  begin  at  the  time  when 
the  organist  had  become  a  musician,  and  had  an  in- 
strument in  some  degree  worthy  of  his  art. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY    CONTINENTAL    ORGANISTS 

Perhaps  the  best  point  in  history  at  which  to  be- 
gin the  account  of  early  organists  is  at  Jean  Okeghem, 
who,  while  not  himself  an  organist,  was  the  founder 
of  what  is  known  as  the  second  Flemish  school  of 
composition.  Okeghem  was  born  about  1430,  and 
belonged  to  the  college  of  singers  in  Antwerp  Cathe- 
dral, in  1443,  a  place  which  he  gave  up  in  the  follow- 
ing year  to  enter  the  service  of  the  King  of  France. 
He  died  about  15 13.  His  foremost  pupils  were 
Josquin  Depres  and  De  La  Rue,  who  carried  his 
art  into  other  countries.  Depres  was,  in  turn,  the 
teacher  of  Benoit,  Ducis,  who  became  organist  of 
Notre  Dame,  at  Antwerp,  and  a  composer  of  much 
merit. 

Benedictus  Ducis  (or  Hertoghs)  was  born  at 
Bruges  about  1480.  Concerning  his  history  there  is 
little  known,  for  he  left  Antwerp  in  15 15,  and  from 
that  date  there  is  no  authentic  account  of  him.  It  is 
said  that  he  went  to  England,  and  he  is  also  said  to 
have  gone  to  Germany ;  he  may  have  done  both.     His 

7 


8  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

connection  with  Antwerp  was  discovered  in  compar- 
atively recent  years,  and  proves  that  he  was  not  a 
German,  as  has  been  stated  by  some  historians.  His 
value  to  us  is  that  he  is  one  of  the  very  first  organists 
on  record. 

A  long  period  elapsed  between  Ducis  and  Swee- 
linck,  who  is  recorded  as  the  greatest  of  all  Dutch 
organists,  and  drew  pupils  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 

Jan  Pieterszoon  Sweelinck  was  born  at  Deventer, 
in  1562,  or,  according  to  some  biographers,  he  was 
born  at  Amsterdam,  where  his  father  was  oro;anist  of 
the  Old  Church.  Some  few  years  after  his  father's 
death  Sweelinck  was  appointed  to  fill  his  place,  and 
remained  organist  of  the  Old  Church  until  his  own 
death,  in  162 1. 

It  has  been  related  that  Sweelinck  went  to  Italy 
and  was,  for  a  time,  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated 
Gabrieli ;  but  this  is  probably  incorrect,  as  he  is 
known  to  have  remained  at  Amsterdam  from  the  age 
of  fifteen,  and  is  hardly  likely  to  have  journeyed  to 
Italy  previous  to  that  age. 

Sweelinck's  organ-playing  was  for  many  years  the 
glory  of  Amsterdam,  and  when  he  died  he  was  called 
by  the  poet  Vondel,  "The  Phoenix  of  Music."  His 
organ  compositions  are  of  great  historical  importance 
inasmuch  as  they  exhibit  the  first  known  example 
of  the  independent  use  of  the  pedal,  in  a  real  fugal 
part,  and  because  Sweelinck  originated  the  organ- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  9 

fugue,  a  form  which  was  afterward  brought  to  per- 
fection by  the  great  J.  S.  Bach. 

While  Sweehnck  had  a  great  many  pupils  of  note, 
the  two  who  became  most  celebrated  were  Samuel 
Scheldt  and  Heinrich  Schiedemann. 

The  former  was  a  native  of  Halle-on-Saale  (1587- 
1654),  and  became  organist  of  the  Moritz  Kirche  at 
Halle.  He  is  noteworthy  as  having  been  the  first 
to  treat  the  working  out  of  the  choral  artistically 
and  in  true  organ  style. 

Schiedemann  was  a  native  of  Hamburg  (1596- 
1663),  and  became  organist  of  the  Katherinenkirche, 
in  which  post  he  succeeded  his  father.  In  16 16 
Schiedemann  and  Prsetorius  were  sent,  at  public 
expense,  to  Amsterdam,  in  order  to  study  under 
Sweelinck,  and  to  be  initiated  into  the  higher  style  of 
organ-playing.  Schiedemann,  as  a  composer,  is  said 
to  have  had  an  agreeable,  easy,  and  cheerful  style 
with  no  pretence  or  desire  for  mere  show.  None  of 
his  organ  compositions  have  survived. 

When  Schiedemann  died  his  place  was  filled  by 
Johann  Adam  Reinken,  who  had  been  his  assistant 
for  five  years,  and  who  was  also  a  pupil  of  Sweelinck. 
Reinken  was  a  native  of  Deventer  (1623-1722),  but 
died  at  Hamburg.  Reinken  was  considered  one  of 
the  foremost  organists  of  his  day  in  North  Germany, 
and  it  is  said  that  J.  S.  Bach  walked  from  Luneburg 
to  Hamburg  several  times  for  the  purpose  of  hearing 


10  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

him.  In  fact  J.  S.  Bach  possessed  a  faculty  for 
walking  long  distances  to  hear  fine  organists  which  is 
worthy  of  emulation  in  the  present  day.  Reinken 
was  noted  for  his  virtuosity,  but  his  compositions  are 
defective  in  form  and  general  construction. 

We  must  now  retrace  our  steps  a  few  years,  and 
we  find  Christian  Erbach,  a  native  of  Algesheim  in 
the  Palatinate,  who  became  organist  to  the  celebrated 
family  of  the  Fuggers  at  Augsburg,  about  1600. 

Gregor  Aichinger,  also  organist  at  Augsburg,  was 
born  about  1565,  and  took  holy  orders.  He  was,  for 
two  years,  a  pupil  of  Gabrieli,  whose  influence  makes 
itself  manifest  in  Aichinger's  compositions,  which 
bear  marks  of  genius,  and  are  among  the  best  German 
music  of  his  time.  He  died  in  1628.  Aichinger's 
"  Cantiones  Ecclesiasticae "  is  noteworthy  as  one 
of  the  earliest  works  in  which  the  basso  continuo 
appears. 

The  name  Praetorius  is  conspicuous  among  early 
organists  and  church  composers  in  Germany.  It 
was  a  name  assumed  by  several  families,  whose 
German  name  was  Schulz.  Hieronymus  Praetorius 
—  or  Jerom  Schulz  —  was  born  in  1560  at  Ham- 
burg, where  he  gained  a  great  reputation  as  an 
organist,  and  died  in   1629. 

His  son  Jacob,  born  at  Hamburg  in  1600,  in- 
herited the  talent  and  confirmed  the  reputation  of 
Jerom,   and  died  in    165 1. 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  II 

But  the  greatest  of  the  Praetorius  family  was 
Michael,  a  native  of  Creutzberg  in  Thuringia  (1571), 
and  who  became  chapel-master  at  Luneburg,  and 
later  was  engaged  as  organist,  chapel-master,  and 
secretary  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  He  died 
at  Wolfenbiittel  on  his  fiftieth  birthday.  Michael 
Praetorius  is  known  to  posterity  chiefly  by  his 
"  Syntagma  Musicum,"  a  work  which  gives  us  an 
insight  into  the  technical  history  of  a  period  lying 
midway  between  the  triumphs  of  the  polyphonic 
school,  and  the  development  of  modern  music.  The 
compositions  of  Michael  Praetorius  are  voluminous 
and  valuable. 

Other  members  of  the  family  were  Bartholomaeus, 
and  Johann.  Of  these  the  last  named  was  no  less 
remarkable  for  his  learning  than  for  his  musical 
talent.  He  was  born  at  Ouedlinburg  in  1634,  held 
appointments  at  Jena,  Gotha,  and  Halle,  where  he 
produced  an  oratorio  called  "David"  in  168 1,  and 
died  in    1705. 

Johann  Hermann  Schein,  bom  at  Griinhain  in 
1586,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  new  movement 
in  Germany.  In  16 13  he  was  appointed  chapel-master 
at  Weimar,  a  post  which  he  held  for  two  years, 
when,  on  the  death  of  Seth  Calvisius,  he  became 
cantor  of  the  Thomas-Schule  at  Leipzig,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death  in  1630. 

Heinrich    Schiitz,   a   native   of    Kostritz,    Saxony 


12  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

(1585),  is  pronounced  the  most  influential  German 
composer  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  developing 
and  promoting  good  church  music,  and  a  worthy- 
forerunner  of  Bach.  By  his  serious  endeavour  to 
unite  the  advantages  of  the  polyphonic  and  the 
monodic  styles  he  prepared  the  way  for  the  polyodic 
style  of  Sebastian  Bach.  His  "  Sieben  Worte  "  has 
been  considered  as  the  germ  of  all  the  later  Passion 
music,  uniting  as  it  does  the  musical  representa- 
tion of  the  sacred  narrative  with  the  expression  of 
the  reflections  and  feelings  of  the  ideal  Christian 
community, 

Schiitz  was  educated  for  the  law,  but  had  received 
a  good  musical  training  as  a  chorister  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Landgraf  Maurice  of  Hesse-Cassel.  His 
talent  for  music  being  conspicuous,  the  landgraf 
offered  to  pay  the  expense  of  a  period  of  study  under 
Gabrieli  at  Venice.  From  1609  until  the  death  of 
Gabrieli  in  16 12,  Schiitz  was  his  pupil.  Schiitz 
then  returned  to  Germany,  expecting  to  resume  the 
study  of  law,  but  became  instead  the  organist  of  the 
landgraf,  his  patron.  In  161 5  he  was  appointed 
chapel-master  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  at  Dresden, 
and  gave  up  all  further  thoughts  of  law  study.  This 
office  he  held  until  his  death  in  1672,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  period  of  about  six  years  (1635-1641)  dur- 
ing the  Thirty  Years'  War,  when  he  took  refuge  in 
Denmark  and  Brunswick.     Though  Schiitz  is  known 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 3 

by  his  sacred  music,  he  wrote  the  best  German 
opera  of  his  day,  to  a  German  version  of  Rinuccini's 
"Daphne,"  after  which  (1627)  he  confined  his  atten- 
tion to  church  music. 

The  oldest  example  of  German  oratorio  that  has 
been  preserved  to  us  is  "  Die  Auferstehung  Christi " 
of  Schiitz,  produced  at  Dresden  in  1623.  On  his 
appointment  to  Dresden  Schiitz  at  once  began  to 
reorganise  the  music  on  the  Italian  model,  and  not 
only  procured  good  Italian  instruments  and  musi- 
cians, but  sent  some  of  the  members  of  the  chapel 
choir  to  Italy  to  study  the  Italian  style  of  playing  and 
singing.  During  a  second  visit  of  Schiitz  to  Italy, 
in  1629,  he  found  great  changes  in  musical  taste, 
a  greater  prominence  being  given  to  solo  singing, 
greater  intensity,  the  freer  use  of  dissonances,  and 
greater  richness  and  variety  in  accompaniments,  all 
of  which  bore  fruit  in  his  later  compositions. 

Notwithstanding  the  authority  wielded  by  Schiitz, 
his  life  as  chapel-master  was  not  without  its  burdens 
and  trials.  He  made  many  personal  sacrifices  in  the 
cause  of  his  art,  even  to  paying  or  increasing  out  of 
his  own  pocket  the  stipends  of  some  of  his  musi- 
cians, but  even  this  generosity  brought  upon  him  so 
many  annoyances  that  he  became  disgusted  with  the 
idea  of  further  cultivating  music  in  Dresden.  This 
condition  began  about  1647  and  developed  to  such 
an  extent  that  between  165  i  and  1655  he  repeatedly 


14  '^HE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


bessred  for  his  dismissal  from  the  service  of  the 
elector.  He  was  frequently  involved  in  differences 
with  his  Italian  colleagues,  who  were  endeavouring  to 
popularise  music  and  take  from  it  the  seriousness  nec- 
essary to  highest  art.  The  elector  refused  to  accept 
the  resignation  of  Schijtz.  Eventually  affairs  im- 
proved, and  he  continued  at  his  post  during  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life.  When  in  his  later  years 
he  suffered  from  deafness  and  was  unable  any  longer 
to  go  out,  he  spent  his  time  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures and  books  of  a  spiritual  nature.  His  last 
attempt  at  composition  was  the  setting  to  music  of 
portions  of  the  109th  Psalm,  and  when  death  over- 
took him  he  was  engaged  upon  the  verse  "Thy 
statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  house  of  my 
pilgrimage,"  than  which  nothing  could  have  been 
more  fittingly  chosen  as  the  motto  of  his  life  and  his 
art  work.  The  year  of  the  birth  of  Schiitz  was 
exactly  one  hundred  years  before  that  of  Handel  and 
Bach,  who  brought  to  perfection  the  forms  which  he 
originated. 

Contemporary  with  Schiitz  lived  Johann  Jacob 
Froberger  (1605  .''-  1667),  a  native  of  Halle  accord- 
inof  to  the  most  authentic  accounts.  Details  of  the 
life  of  Froberger  are  rather  meagre,  considering  his 
eminence  as  an  organist  and  composer.  It  is  said 
that  the  Swedish  ambassador,  passing  through  Halle, 
heard  Froberger  sing,  and  being  impressed  with  the 


THE    ORGAN  AND    ITS  MASTERS  1 5 

beauty  of  his  voice,  induced  the  young  chorister  to 
accompany  him  to  Vienna,  where  a  place  was  found 
for  him  in  the  imperial  choir. 

In  1637  Froberger  was  court  organist  at  Vienna, 
and  in  that  year  he  received  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
florins  to  enable  him  to  go  to  Italy  and  study  under 
Frescobaldi,  whose  pupil  he  was  for  four  years.  In 
1 64 1  he  returned  to  his  post  at  Vienna,  which  he 
occupied  during  the  next  four  years.  After  that 
there  is  a  hiatus  in  his  biographies,  and  it  is  to  be 
assumed  that  he  was  either  travelling  or  studying ; 
but  he  returned  to  Vienna  and  to  his  old  post  again 
in  1653  for  another  period  of  four  years. 

In  1657  Froberger  left  the  service  of  the  emperor 
and  began  to  make  concert  tours,  during  which  he 
visited  both  Paris  and  London.  The  latter  city  he 
reached  in  1662  in  a  woful  plight.  He  had  been 
robbed  twice  on  his  journey  and  was  in  a  destitute 
condition,  so  that  he  gladly  accepted  employment  as 
an  organ-blower  at  Westminster  Abbey,  where  Gib- 
bons was  organist.  His  rise  to  prosperity  is  almost 
Hke  a  fairy  tale.  On  the  occasion  of  the  marriage 
of  King  Charles  II.,  Christopher  Gibbons  was  playing 
before  the  court,  when  Froberger  overblew  the 
organ,  for  which  inattention  he  was  severely  repri- 
manded by  the  indignant  organist.  A  few  minutes 
later  (perhaps  while  Gibbons  was  readjusting  himself 
after  the  exertion  of  the  reprimand)  Froberger  found 


1 6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

an  opportunity  to  seat  himself  at  the  organ  and 
improvise  in  the  style  of  which  he  was  a  master. 
A  foreign  lady,  who  was  present  and  who  had 
been  a  pupil,  immediately  recognised  the  touch 
and  style  of  her  former  teacher,  and  presented  him 
to  the  king,  who  received  him  graciously.  Prosperity 
ensued. 

The  last  years  of  Froberger's  life  were  spent  in 
the  service  of  the  Duchess  of  Wurtemberg  at  her 
chateau  near  Hericourt,  France,  and  it  was  there 
that  he  died  in  1667. 

Among  Froberger's  compositions  were  several  for 
the  organ,  and  Sebastian  Bach  is  said  to  have  secured 
copies  of  some  of  them  and  made  a  study  of  them 
when  he  was  yet  very  young.  Froberger  is  said  to 
have  possessed  a  marvellous  power  of  describing,  or 
picturing  in  music,  all  kinds  of  incidents  and  ideas, 
but  nothing  exists  which  gives  any  support  to  this 
statement. 

Johann  Kaspar  Kerl  was  a  celebrated  organist  of 
Munich,  born  in  1628.  Kerl  was  a  native  of  Gai- 
mersheim,  near  Ingolstadt,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Val- 
entini  at  Vienna,  by  whose  advice  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  III.  sent  him  to  Rome  to  study  under 
Carissimi.  It  is  supposed  also  that  he  took  lessons 
of  Frescobaldi.  Kerl  returned  to  Germany  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  in  1656, 
and  officiated  at   the   coronation    of   Leopold    I.    at 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1/ 

Frankfort,  from  which  event  his  reputation  as  an 
organist  dates.  He  remained  at  Munich  fifteen 
years,  and  then  went  to  Vienna,  where  he  remained 
for  several  years,  returning,  however,  to  Munich, 
where  he  died  in  1693. 

Of  Kerl's  compositions,  one,  a  canzona  for  organ, 
is  transmitted  to  us  through  the  medium  of  Handel, 
who  appropriated  it  entire  for  his  oratorio  "  Israel  in 
Egypt,"  in  which  it  appears,  merely  transposed  from 
the  key  of  D  minor  to  E  minor,  as  the  chorus 
**  Egypt  was  glad." 

Kerl  shared,  with  many  other  German  organists,  a 
dislike  for  Italian  singers,  and  it  is  related  that  once 
upon  a  time,  in  order  to  revenge  himself  on  them,  he 
wrote  his  "  Missa  Nigra "  entirely  on  black  notes ; 
also  a  duet,  "  O  bone  Jesu,"  the  only  accompaniment 
of  which  is  a  ground  bass  passing  through  all  the 
keys.  These  works  were  given  at  the  last  perform- 
ance under  his  direction,  and  were  so  difficult  that 
the  singers  were  horribly  false  all  through  and  cov- 
ered themselves  with  ridicule. 

Kerl's  style  is  remarkable  for  the  frequent  intro- 
duction of  discords  resolved  in  a  new  and  unexpected 
manner,  in  which  respect  he  is  considered  a  worthy 
predecessor  of  Sebastian  Bach. 

Johann  Joseph  Fux  stands  out  from  amongst  the 
musicians  of  his  time  as  one  of  the  most  important 
theoreticians  in  the  history  of  music.     Born  in  1660 


1 8  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

at  Hirtenfeld,  near  Gratz,  he  was  the  son  of  a  peas- 
ant, and  nothing  more  than  this  fact  is  recorded  of 
his  early  days. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-six  he  received  an  appointment 
as  organist  at  Vienna  to  an  ecclesiastical  order,  "  Zu 
den  Schotten,"  and  in  1705  he  became  chapel-master 
at  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Stephen.  In  17 13  he  was 
appointed  chapel-master  to  the  Dowager  Empress 
Wilhelmine  Amalie,  and  became  vice-chapel-master, 
and  afterward  head  chapel-master  to  the  court.  Fux 
as  a  man  is  said  to  have  had  the  esteem  of  all  his 
acquaintances,  for  he  was  kind  and  just  in  his  deal- 
ings. He  received  many  proofs  of  court  favour. 
Some  four  hundred  and  five  of  his  works  are  still  in 
existence,  though  but  few  of  them  are  printed.  His 
"  Musa  Canonica,"  which  was  dedicated  to  the  em- 
peror, is  unique  in  its  way.  It  contains  every  species 
of  canon,  and  displays  his  marvellous  knowledge  of 
counterpoint,  combined  with  the  richest  modulation. 
Marpurg  speaks  of  the  double  canon  in  the  "  Christe 
eleison  "  in  these  words  :  "  The  harmony  is  gorgeous, 
and  at  the  same  time  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the 
sacredness  of  the  occasion." 

Fux  had  numerous  pupils  who  rose  to  places  of 
distinction,  but  his  name  as  an  educator  will  always 
be  most  celebrated  through  his  "  Gradus  ad  Par- 
nassum,"  a  work  which  must  not  be  confounded 
with  that  of  Clementi,  which  is  familiar  to  all  piano- 


THE   ORGAN^  AND  ITS  MASTERS  1 9 

forte  students.  Concerning  this  work  Mr.  Rockstro 
writes  :  "  When  the  Une  of  polyphonic  composers 
came  to  an  end,  the  verbal  treatises,  no  longer  illus- 
trated by  their  living  examples,  lost  so  much  of  their 
value,  that  the  rules  were  in  danger  of  serious  mis- 
construction, and  would  probably  have  been  to  a 
great  extent  forgotten,  had  not  Fux,  in  his  "  Gradus 
ad  Parnassum,"  pubHshed  at  Vienna  in  1725,  set 
them  forth  with  a  systematic  clearness,  which,  ex- 
hausting the  subject,  left  nothing  more  to  be  desired. 
This  invaluable  treatise,  founded  entirely  on  the 
practice  of  the  great  masters,  played  so  important  a 
part  in  the  education  of  the  three  greatest  compo- 
'sers  of  the  school  of  Vienna,  Haydn,  Mozart,  and 
Beethoven,  that  it  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  its 
influence  upon  their  method  of  part-writing.  So 
clear  are  its  examples,  and  so  reasonable  its  argu- 
ments, that  it  has  formed  the  basis  of  all  the  best 
treatises  of  later  date." 

One  little  anecdote  may  be  allowed  about  Fux,  as 
illustrating  the  high  opinion  in  which  he  held  his 
profession.  It  is  related  that  Carl  VI.  once  played 
the  accompaniment  of  an  opera  by  Fux,  and  accom- 
plished his  task  with  such  skill  that  the  composer 
exclaimed  "  Bravo  !  Your  Majesty  might  serve  any- 
where as  chief  chapel-master."  "  Not  so  fast,  my 
dear  chief  chapel-master,"  the  emperor  replied  ;  "we 
are  better  off  as  we  are  !  " 


20  THE    ORGAN  AA'D   ITS  MASTERS 

Fux  held  his  office  under  three  successive  em- 
perors, and  died  at  Vienna  in  1741. 

Among  continental  organists  previous  to  J.  S.  Bach, 
no  name  is  more  prominent  than  that  of  Dietrich 
Buxtehude,  a  native  of  Helsingfors,  Denmark  (1637). 
Buxtehude's  father  was  organist  of  the  Olai-church, 
and  probably  bestowed  upon  his  son  the  early  educa- 
tion which  enabled  him  to  reach  such  a  prominent 
position.  The  accounts  of  his  early  life  are  very 
meagre,  and  much  is  therefore  left  to  conjecture. 
The  admirable  playing  of  young  Buxtehude,  and  his 
great  promise,  enabled  him  to  secure,  in  1668,  the 
post  of  organist  at  the  Marien-church,  Liibeck,  which 
was  one  of  the  most  desirable  in  Germany,  partly,  no 
doubt,  because  the  new  organist  was  required  to 
marry  the  daughter  of  the  old  one,  and  was  thus 
saved  the  time  and  perplexity  of  courtship.  Here 
he  became  the  great  musical  centre  of  the  north  of 
Europe,  and  young  musicians  gathered  from  afar  to 
hear  him  play  and  to  study  under  him.  Amongst 
these  were  young  Sebastian  Bach,  who  came  fifty 
miles  on  foot  to  spend  a  month's  leave  of  absence 
under  the  influence  of  the  greatest  teacher  of  the 
day,  and  who,  oblivious  of  the  flight  of  time,  remained 
three  months. 

Buxtehude  made  himself  famous  by  establishing,  in 
1673,  the  "  Abendmusiken,"  or  evening  performances, 
which   took   place   on    the    five    Sundays   preceding 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  21 

Christmas.  These  services  began  between  four  and 
five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  consisted  of  con- 
certed pieces  of  sacred  music  for  orchestra  and  chorus, 
and  of  organ  performances.  They  were  well  sup- 
ported by  the  people  of  Liibeck,  who  took  much 
pride  in  them,  and  they  continued  throughout  the 
eighteenth  and  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  organ  at  Liibeck  was  one  of  the  finest  in 
existence  at  that  time.  It  had  been  built  about  1 5 1 6, 
when  it  contained  two  manuals,  from  D  to  A  above 
the  staff,  and  a  separate  pedal  down  to  C.  The  latter 
had  a  great  "principal"  of  thirty-two  feet,  and  a 
second  one  of  sixteen  feet.  A  third  manual  was 
afterward  added,  in  1560  and  1561,  and  many  other 
alterations  and  improvements  were  made  before  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  When  Buxte- 
hude  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  career  the  instrument 
contained  three  manuals  and  pedal  keyboard,  and 
fifty-seven  stops  —  altogether  a  very  fine  instrument. 

The  technique  of  the  organ  had  already  reached 
such  a  point  of  development  by  the  time  of  Buxte- 
hude's  full  power,  and  largely  by  his  agency,  that  it 
cannot  be  said  that  Bach  had  to  open  entirely  new 
paths. 

Buxtehude's  compositions,  though  seldom  used  at 
the  present  day,  are  remarkable  as  the  earliest  asser- 
tion of  the  principle  of  pure  instrumental  music, 
which   was    further   developed    by    his    great    pupil, 


22  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Sebastian  Bach.  There  are  twenty-four  organ  pieces 
rich  aUke  in  matter  and  extent.  His  strength  lay  in 
free  organ  compositions. 

Biixtehude  died  at  the  age  of  seventy,  and  while 
he  is  said  to  have  been  excelled  in  playing  by  some 
and  in  composition  by  others,  yet  the  position  which 
he  gained  and  filled  with  such  success  gave  him  the 
opportunity  to  display  his  energy  and  talent,  and  thus 
to  become  the  musical  centre  of  Northern  Europe. 

The  most  important  of  Buxtehude's  pupils  was 
Nikolaus  Bruhns,  who  was  also  an  excellent  violinist, 
born  in  1665  at  Schwabstadt,  m  Schleswig.  Buxte- 
hude  procured  him  occupation  for  many  years  at 
Copenhagen  till  he  became  organist  at  Husum,  where 
he  died  in  1697,  in  his  prime.  Others  who  rose  to 
eminence  were  David  Erich,  organist  at  Gastrow, 
and  George  Dietrich  Lieding,  of  Biicken,  near  Hoya, 
who,  like  Bach,  made  a  pilgrimage,  in  1684,  from 
Brunswick  to  Hamburg  and  Liibeck  to  derive  in- 
struction from  the  playing  of  Reinken  and  Buxte- 
hude. 

We  must  now  go  back  once  more  to  earlier  days 
and  see  what  was  being  done  in  Italy  and  France, 
for  many  of  the  best  organists  of  other  countries,  as 
we  have  already  noticed,  went  to  Italy  to  study. 

In  the  ninth  century  the  Germans  had  acquired 
such  skill  as  organ  builders  that  they  were  called  upon 
to  supply  Italy  not  only  with  instruments  but  with 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  23 

skilled  players.  Again,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  an 
organ,  built  in  Germany,  was  erected  in  the  church 
of  St.  Raphael  in  Venice.  Thus  we  find  that  the 
early  Italian  organists  were  Germans.  Bernhard, 
who  was  organist  of  St.  Mark's  at  Venice  from 
1445  to  1459,  the  year  of  his  death,  is  credited  by 
some  historians  with  the  invention  of  the  pedal,  but 
in  all  probability  Bernhard  simply  introduced  the 
pedal  into  Italy. 

The  first  great  Italian  organist,  of  whom  there  is 
any  account,  was  Andrea  Gabrieli,  born  about  15  10, 
at  Venice,  and  he  became  a  pupil  of  Adrian  Willaert. 

Willaert  was  born  in  Flanders  about  1480,  proba- 
bly at  Bruges.  He  was  educated  for  the  law,  and 
went  to  Paris  to  study,  but  became  more  interested 
in  music  than  in  legal  matters.  Willaert  seems  to 
have  been  a  somewhat  restless  youth,  for  on  return- 
ing to  Flanders  from  Paris  he  remained  only  a  short 
time,  and  then  set  forth  on  a  journey  to  Italy.  He 
visited  Venice,  Rome,  and  Ferrara,  then  proceeded 
northwards  again,  and  became  cantor  to  King  Lewis 
of  Bavaria  and  Hungary.  In  December,  1527,  he 
was  appointed  chapel-master  of  St.  Mark's,  Venice, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1562. 

Willaert  is  called  the  founder  of  the  Venetian 
school  of  musicians,  and  had  many  pupils  who 
became  famous,  for  he  drew  about  him  the  most 
promising  talent  of  the  day.     He  was  a  prolific  com- 


24  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

poser,  and  had  two  organs  and  two  choirs  at  St. 
Mark's,  which  fact  led  to  the  invention  of  double 
choruses.  One  of  his  compositions  which  was  spe- 
cially admired,  was  a  Magnificat  for  three  choirs. 
He  is  also  considered  to  have  been  the  father  of  the 
madrigal. 

Thus  while  Willaert  was  one  of  the  Flemish 
school,  which  was  at  its  best  in  his  day,  he  became 
the  founder  of  an  Italian  school,  which  also  produced 
some  admirable  musicians. 

Of  these  pupils  Andrea  Gabrieli,  already  men- 
tioned, became  the  most  famous.  His  reputation 
spread  throughout  Europe,  and  brought  to  him  as 
pupils  such  men  as  Leo  Hassler.  Gabrieli  entered 
the  choir  of  the  doge  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  and 
twenty  years  later  he  became  second  organist  of  St. 
Mark's,  when,  on  the  death  of  Willaert,  Claudio 
Merulo  was  appointed  first  organist.  An  account 
says  that,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  first 
organist,  but  we  are  also  told  that,  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  Merulo,  in  1585,  Giovanni  Gabrieli,  the 
nephew  of  Andrea,  was  appointed  first  organist. 

Andrea  Gabrieli  is  said  to  have  composed  the  first 
real  fugues,  but  his  nephew  showed  great  proficiency 
in  this  style  of  composition,  and  brought  it  to  a 
greater  state  of  perfection, 

Giovanni  Gabrieli  was  born  in  1557,  and  became 
even   more   celebrated  than  his  uncle.     Among  his 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  2$ 

most  celebrated  pupils  were  Heinrich  Schiitz,  Aloys 
Grani,  and  Michael  Praetorius.  Giovanni  held  the 
post  of  first  organist  at  St.  Mark's  until  his  death  in 
1612  (his  uncle  died  in  1586,  the  year  following  Gio- 
vanni's appointment),  and  was  succeeded  by  Gianpolo 
Savii. 

Claudio  Merulo  was  noted  for  the  wonderful  power 
of  his  playing  at  a  time  when  Venice  was  the  Mecca 
of  musicians.  Born  at  Correggio,  in  1533,  he  re- 
ceived an  excellent  education,  and  in  1566  was 
appointed  organist  at  Brescia.  In  the  following 
year,  he  was  the  successful  one  of  nine  candidates 
for  the  position  of  second  organist  at  St.  Mark's, 
Venice,  where  he  was  associated  with,  and  became 
a  pupil  of  Willaert.  It  seems  somewhat  curious  that 
both  Andrea  Gabrieli  and  Claudio  Merulo  should 
have  held  the  same  position  (second  organist)  for 
so  many  years  simultaneously.  Probably  one  of 
them  held  some  other  position  of  a  similar  nature. 

In  1585  Merulo  resigned  his  position  and  went  to 
Mantua,  and  then,  in  the  following  year,  to  Parma, 
where  he  became  organist  of  the  duke's  chapel,  a 
position  which  he  held  until  his  death  in   1604. 

Of  his  compositions.  Sir  W.  Sterndale  Bennett 
writes :  "  They  compare  favourably  with  other 
works  of  the  period.  As  historical  examples  they 
are  also  valuable.  In  them  we  have  classical  instru- 
mental music  quite   distinct    from   vocal ;   we   have 


26  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

again  chord  —  as  distinct  from  part  —  writing,  the 
greatest  result  the  organists  had  achieved,  and  the 
ultimate  death-blow  to  the  modal  system.  Claudio 
lived  close  on  the  borders  of  the  new  tonality.  In 
his  compositions  he  does  not  abandon  himself  to  it, 
but  he  no  doubt  went  much  farther  in  his  playing 
than  on  paper,  and  had  he  lived  a  few  years  longer, 
Frescobaldi's  bold  and  apparently  sudden  adoption 
of  the  tonal  system  would  not,  perhaps,  have  come 
upon  him  unawares." 

Girolamo  Frescobaldi  is  called  the  most  distin- 
guished organist  of  the  seventeenth  century.  His 
compositions  are  important,  and  he  was  the  first 
(excepting,  perhaps,  Samuel  Scheldt,  the  German 
organist)  to  play  tonal  fugues  on  the  organ. 

Frescobaldi  was  born  at  Ferrara  in  1583,  and 
studied  music  under  Luzzasco  Luzzaschi,  organist  of 
the  cathedral.  In  1608  he  was  in  Antwerp,  but 
returned  quickly  to  Italy,  and  was  appointed  organist 
of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  which  post  he  held  for 
twenty  years.  Dissatisfied  with  his  lot  in  Rome,  he 
went  to  Florence  on  the  invitation  of  Ferdinand  II., 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  to  whom  he  was  appointed 
organist. 

Five  years  later  social  and  political  disturbances 
caused  him  to  return  to  Rome,  where  he  was  rein- 
stated at  St.  Peter's,  and  remained  until  1643.  He 
died  in  the  following  year. 


GIROLAMO    FRESCOBALDI 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  2/ 

It  is  related  that  Frescobaldi's  first  performance 
at  St.  Peter's  drew  together  an  audience  of  thirty 
thousand  people,  for  his  reputation  both  as  a  singer 
and  an  organist  was  great  even  in  his  youth. 

Pietro  Francesco  Cavalli,  whose  real  name  was 
Caletti-Bruno,  was  organist  of  St.  Marks,  Venice, 
from  1640  until  1668.  He  was  born  at  Crema 
about  1599.  Cavalli  is  remarkable  amongst  early 
organists,  inasmuch  as  he  grew  rich,  and  enjoyed  the 
esteem  and  affection  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was 
noted  for  his  compositions  as  well  as  for  his  playing, 
but  he  wrote  chiefly  for  the  theatre.  Of  his  church 
music  but  little  is  known. 


CHAPTER   III. 

EARLY    ENGLISH    ORGANISTS 

The  first  record  known  to  exist  that  gives  any 
particulars  as  to  the  cost  of  building  an  organ  in 
England,  is  to  be  found  under  the  date  1407,  in  the 
accounts  of  the  precentor  of  Ely  Cathedral,  but  not 
until  1 5 19  is  there  any  specification  of  an  organ 
recorded.  This  was  of  the  organ  at  All  Hallows, 
Barking,  near  London,  which  was  built  by  Anthony 
Duddington.  John  Redford,  organist,  almoner,  and 
master  of  the  choristers  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  is 
one  of  the  earliest  organists  of  whom  there  is  any 
account.     He  lived  from  1491  to  1547. 

About  the  year  1 500  we  have  John  Taverner  and 
Christopher  Tye.  Taverner  was  organist  of  Boston, 
in  Lincolnshire,  but  about  1500  moved  to  Oxford, 
where  he  became  organist  of  Christ  Church,  then 
known  as  Cardinal  College.  Taverner  lived  in  dan- 
gerous times,  and  was  once  imprisoned,  together 
with  a  number  of  his  friends,  for  concealing  some 
heretical  books.  The  place  of  their  imprisonment 
was  a  deep  cave  under  the  college,  used  for  the  pur- 

28 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  29 

pose  of  Storing  salt  fish.  Some  of  the  unfortunate 
heretics  died  from  the  stench  of  the  fish,  and  those 
who  survived  this  ordeal  were  burnt  at  the  stake. 
Taverner,  however,  was  released,  as  he  was  "only 
a  musician,"  and  perhaps  because  his  services  in 
that  capacity  were  needed.  He  died  at  Boston 
(England). 

Christopher  Tye  was  a  native  of  Westminster,  be- 
came a  chorister,  and  afterward  a  gentleman  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  took  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Music 
at  Cambridge  in  1536,  and  was  appointed  organist 
of  Ely  Cathedral,  which  post  he  held  until  1562. 
He  took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1545,  and  at  Oxford  three  years  later. 

Doctor  Tye  was  music-master  to  Prince  Edward, 
and  did  much  to  restore  church  music.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  "a  peevish  and  humoursome  man,"  and 
to  have  rebuked  Queen  Elizabeth  when  she  found 
fault  with  his  playing.  Doctor  Tye  also  translated 
into  metre  and  set  to  music  the  first  fourteen  chap- 
ters of  the  "Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  and  published 
them  under  a  title  which,  containing  eighty-two  words, 
is  too  long  for  repetition  in  these  pages.  He  died 
about  1580. 

Mr.  William  A.  Barrett,  in  his  book  on  English 
church  composers,  states  that  Archbishop  Cranmer 
was  the  first  who  arranged  the  translation  of  the 
litany  to  a  chant.      It  was  first   sung  in   English  in 


30  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  September  i8,  1547,  the 
priests  and  clerks  all  kneeling,  and  Cranmer's  adap- 
tation being  used.  This  was  the  first  occasion  on 
which  any  portion  of  the  liturgy  was  publicly  per- 
formed in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  from  this  day  com- 
mences the  history  of  English  church  composers. 
While  this  statement  may  seem  irrelevant  in  a  book 
on  organists,  yet  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
greatest  composers  of  English  church  music  have 
generally  been  organists,  the  matter  bears  an  im- 
portant relation  to  our  subject,  and  we  are  led  by  it 
into  a  new  period,  of  which  the  pioneer  was  Thomas 
Tallys. 

Before  the  Reformation  it  was  customary  for  the 
organ  to  be  played  by  some  ecclesiastic,  yet  Tallys 
held  the  position  of  organist  at  Waltham  Abbey 
when,  in  1540,  the  last  abbot  surrendered  to  Henry 
VIII.,  — and  Tallys  was  a  layman. 

The  date  and  place  of  the  birth  of  Tallys  are  not 
known,  but  1 520  is  considered  approximate.  Tallys 
was  a  pupil  of  Thomas  Mulliner,  and  a  chorister  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  in  the  days  of  his  youth.  When  his 
voice  broke  he  was  probably  appointed  organist  at  Wal- 
tham Abbey,  and  on  being  dismissed  from  that  place 
he  became  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  appointed  organist  of  that  chapel 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  but  he  served  there 
under  Henry  VHL,   Edward  VI.,  Queen  Mary,  and 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  3  I 

Elizabeth.  He  was  at  Greenwich  in  attendance  upon 
Queen  Elizabeth  when  he  was  overtaken  by  death  in 
1585. 

Tallys  is  called  the  father  of  English  church 
music,  and  he  devoted  his  talents  entirely  to  that 
branch  of  art.  The  character  of  his  music  is  solemn, 
stately,  and  dignified,  and  his  work  for  the  use  of  the 
Church  remains  unimpaired  for  utility  and  solemnity. 
His  memory  is  best  maintained  by  the  harmonies 
which  he  added  to  the  plain-song  of  ancient  use  in 
the  Church.  The  world  has  not  seen  many  more 
accomplished  contrapuntists  than  Tallys.  One  of 
his  most  remarkable  compositions  is  a  motet  for 
forty  voices,  disposed  into  eight  distinct  five-part 
choirs,  which  sometimes  answer  each  other  antiph- 
onally,  and  sometimes  sing  together  in  a  vast  "  quad- 
ragesimal harmony."  It  is  a  genuine  example  of 
forty-part  counterpoint. 

Tallys  was  a  man  of  much  energy,  and,  not  con- 
tent with  composition  alone,  secured,  in  1576,  to- 
gether with  William  Byrd,  his  pupil,  letters  patent 
giving  them  the  exclusive  right  of  printing  ruled 
music  paper  for  twenty-one  years,  a  monopoly  by 
which  Byrd  profited  more  than  Tallys,  as  the  latter 
died  a  few  years  after  the  privilege  was  secured. 

Tallys  was  married,  but  had  no  children.  This 
fact,  together  with  his  many  virtues,  was  set  forth  in 
verse  in  his  epitaph,  which,  being  curious,  is  worth 


32  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

quotation,  but  being  long,  the  first  and  last  verses 
only  must  suffice  : 

"  Enterred  here  doth  ly  a  worthy  wight, 

Who  for  a  long  tyme  in  musick  bore  the  bell ; 
His  name  to  shew  was  Thomas  Tallys  hight, 
In  honest,  vertuous  lyff  he  dyd  excell. 

"  As  he  dyd  lyve,  so  also  dyd  he  dy, 

In  myld  and  quyet  sort,  O  happy  man, 
To  God  ful  oft  for  mercy  dyd  he  cry, 

Wherefore  he  lyves,  let  Deth  do  what  he  can." 

Contemporary  with  Tallys  was  Richard  Farrant, 
organist  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  musicians  whose  works,  still  in  use, 
were  written  to  English  words. 

Farrant  was  succeeded  at  Windsor  by  John  Mundy, 
who  held  the  place  for  fifteen  years,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Doctor  Nathaniel  Gyles  in  1595,  two 
musicians  of  no  particular  genius. 

William  Byrd,  a  pupil  of  Tallys,  and  his  partner  in 
the  music-printing  business,  was  born  about  1538. 
He  was  organist  of  Lincoln  Cathedral  from  1563  to 
1569,  and  was  then  appointed  one  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  Chapel  Royal.  Byrd  is  known  as  a  composer 
rather  than  as  an  organist,  and  most  of  his  works  are 
secular,  with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do  here. 
Some  of  his  anthems  are  still  in  use,  and  he  is  sup- 
posed   to    have    been    the  writer  of  the  well-known 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  33 

canon  "Non  Nobis  Domine,"  which  is  preserved  in 
the  Vatican  in  "golden  notes." 

Byrd  Hved  to  a  good  old  age,  dying  in  1623.  He 
was  married,  had  several  children,  and  was  highly 
respected.  He  did  not  entirely  escape  the  re- 
ligious troubles  of  his  day,  for  at  one  time  he  was 
suspected  of  Popish  inclinations, — a  most  desperate 
crime. 

John  Morley,  who  was  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Ca- 
thedral, contributed  much  to  the  musical  literature 
of  his  age,  but  little  of  his  church  music  remains. 
His  "  Plaine  and  Easie  Introduction  to  Practicall 
Musicke,"  dated  in  1597,  was  the  first  work  of  the 
kind  published  in  England.  It  went  through  many 
editions  and  was  translated  into  German. 

Morley  was  born  about  1564,  and  was  educated 
under  Byrd  at  St.  Paul's.  In  1592  he  became  a 
gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  but  died  in 
1604. 

John  Bull,  born  in  Somersetshire  in  1563,  was  one 
of  the  best  organists  of  his  day.  He  was  educated 
in  Queen  Elizabeth's  chapel,  under  William  Blithe- 
man,  also  an  excellent  organist  but  one  whose  bi- 
ography is  unknown.  Bull  became  organist  of 
Hereford  Cathedral  in  1582,  and  in  the  following 
year  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  Chapel  Royal, 
where  he  became  organist  upon  the  death  of  Blithe- 
man,  in   1 591.     He  took  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of 


34  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Music  at  Cambridge  in  1586  and  as  Doctor  in  1592, 
also  at  Oxford  in  the  same  year. 

Doctor  Bull  was  the  first  professor  of  music  ap- 
pointed at  the  newly  founded  Gresham  College, 
where  he  was  required  to  deliver  a  "  solemn  music 
lecture  twice  every  week."  He  was  the  only  pro- 
fessor in  the  college  who  was  allowed  to  lecture  in 
English,  and  this  concession  was  wisely  made  be- 
cause he  was  unable  to  lecture  in  Latin  after  the 
custom  of  the  times  in  institutions  of  advanced 
learning. 

In  1 60 1  Doctor  Bull  went  abroad  for  the  benefit 
of  his  health,  and  travelled  incognito  upon  the  Conti- 
nent. That  his  reputation  must  have  been  great  is 
demonstrated  by  the  following  anecdote  —  if  true. 
Doctor  Bull  visited  St.  Omer's,  where  lived  a  cele- 
brated musician,  who  showed  him  a  song  of  his  own 
composition,  of  forty  parts,  and  challenged  any  one  to 
add  another  part  to  it.  Doctor  Bull  being,  at  his  own 
request,  left  alone  with  the  score,  added  forty  more 
parts.  The  great  musician,  on  examining  the  work, 
burst  into  an  ecstasy  and  declared  that  his  visitor 
must  be  either  Doctor  Bull  or  the  devil. 

Bull  returned  to  England  at  the  command  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  at  her  death  retained  his  posi- 
tion as  organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal. 

It  is  related  that  when  King  James  I.  and  Prince 
Henry  dined  at  the  Merchant  Taylor's  Hall,  "  Bull, 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  35 

being  in  a  citizen's  gowne,  cappe,  and  hood,  played 
most  excellent  melodic  uppon  a  small  payre  of  organs, 
placed  there  for  that  purpose  onley." 

In  1607  Bull  married  Elizabeth  Walter,  of  the 
Strand,  and  resigned  his  professorship  at  Gresham 
College,  which  was  tenable  only  as  long  as  he  was  a 
bachelor.  He  went  abroad  again  in  161 3,  apparently 
because  he  was  dissatisfied  with  the  condition  of 
music  in  England.  He  became  organist  of  Notre 
Dame  Cathedral  in  Antwerp  in  16 17,  died  in  that 
city  in  1628,  and  was  buried  in  the  cathedral. 

Notwithstanding  Bull's  eminence  as  an  organist 
and  composer,  very  few  of  his  works  are  printed.  Of 
these,  two  anthems,  "Deliver  Me,  O  God,"  and  "O 
Lord  My  God,"  are  printed  in  Boyce's  collection  of 
cathedral  music,  and  some  few  other  anthems,  etc., 
are  in  existence.  The  Sacred  Harmonic  Society 
possesses  a  manuscript  collection  of  organ  music 
which  contains  several  pieces  by  Doctor  Bull,  and 
these  are  almost  the  first  compositions  for  the  organ 
only  of  which  we  have  any  account.  Most  of  his 
other  compositions  were  secular.  His  influence  over 
his  contemporaries  and  successors  was  large.  His 
vocal  pieces  are  full  of  the  dignity  and  solemnity 
proper  to  their  purpose,  and  his  instrumental  pieces 
for  organ,  virginals,  or  viol,  his  canons  and  fancies, 
exhibit  great  freedom  and  ideality.  Bull  was  the 
first    who    attempted    to    employ    modulations,    and 


36  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

though  some  of  his  examples  are  not  satisfactory, 
they  show  his  desire  to  depart  from  the  estabUshed 
modes  of  his  predecessors.  In  this  respect  he  may 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  extension 
of  thought  in  music,  which  led  in  later  times  to 
greater  results. 

William  Inglott,  born  1554,  was  distinguished  for 
his  skill  as  a  performer  on  the  organ  and  virginals. 
He  was  organist  of  Norwich  Cathedral,  and  died  in 
1621. 

Elway  Bevin,  a  pupil  of  Tallys,  was  organist  of 
Bristol  in  1589,  and  was  afterward  a  gentleman  of 
the  Chapel  Royal.  His  most  eminent  pupil  was 
William  Childe,  organist  of  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor.  Bevin  published  a  book  on  the  construc- 
tion of  canons,  which  was  as  plain  and  simple  as  such 
a  work  could  be,  and  which  seems  to  have  displeased 
his  fellow  musicians,  as  it  exposed  one  of  the  mys- 
teries of  their  profession. 

One  of  the  greatest  names  in  the  history  of  Eng- 
lish church  music  is  that  of  Orlando  Gibbons,  who 
was  born  at  Cambridge  in  1583.  He  was  one  of  the 
finest  organists  and  composers  of  his  time,  and  one 
of  the  greatest  musical  geniuses  of  his  country.  He 
was  the  youngest  son  of  three.  The  Rev.  Edward 
Gibbons,  the  eldest  of  the  three  brothers,  was  organist 
of  Bristol  Cathedral  and  priest-vicar  in  1592,  and 
organist  and  custos  of  the  college  of  priest-vicars  in 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  'i^'J 

Exeter  Cathedral  in  1611,  retaining  these  ofifices 
until  1644,  when  the  organ  and  choir  were  abolished 
by  Oliver  Cromwell.  For  advancing  money  to  King 
Charles  I.  during  the  civil  war  his  property  was  con- 
fiscated and  he  was  turned  out  of  his  house,  when 
eighty  years  of  age. 

Elhs  Gibbons,  the  second  brother,  was  organist  of 
Salisbury  Cathedral  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, but  no  record  of  his  life  or  death  is  known  to 
exist. 

Orlando  Gibbons  was  admitted  to  the  post  of 
organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal  in  1604,  and  in  1623 
became  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  His  death 
in  1625  was  caused  by  smallpox  contracted  during  a 
visit  to  Canterbury,  to  which  place  he  was  called  in 
order  to  attend  the  marriage  of  Charles  I.  For  this 
occasion  Gibbons  had  composed  an  ode  and  some 
instrumental  music.  Thus  Gibbons,  like  many  of  the 
brightest  musical  lights,  was  extinguished  at  a  com- 
paratively early  age. 

Gibbons  was  the  last  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Early  School  of  English  church  composers,  to  which 
school  belonged  Tallys,  Byrd,  and  others,  but  by  no 
composer  was  the  dignity  of  the  school  more  nobly 
maintained.  In  imagination,  fancy,  scientific  knowl- 
edge, and  in  his  power  of  concentration,  he  may  be 
considered  the  musical  Shakespeare  of  his  age.  His 
works  possess  so  much  truth  in  expression  that  they 


38  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

still  retain  the  power  of  pleasing  and  elevating  the 
mind,  and  have  earned  for  him  the  title  of  "The 
English  Palestrina."  Many  of  his  anthems,  also  his 
services  in  F  and  D,  were  published  in  Boyce's  "  Cele- 
brated Music,"  and  an  excellent  collection  was  pub- 
lished by  Sir  F.  Ouseley  in  1873,  containing  some 
thirty-four  separate  works.  His  anthem  "  O  Clap 
Your  Hands,"  which  is  said  to  have  been  his  exer- 
cise for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music,  is  frequently 
to  be  heard  at  the  present  day,  having  retained  its 
virtue  during  nearly  three  centuries. 

Gibbons  left  six  children,  of  whom  two  were  sons, 
Christopher  Gibbons  and  Orlando,  and  both  became 
musicians,  though  they  did  not  equal  the  genius  of 
their  father.  In  fact  only  Christopher  became  promi- 
nent. He  was  educated  at  Exeter  Cathedral  under 
his  uncle  Edward,  and  became  organist  of  Winchester 
Cathedral.  This  appointment  he  forfeited  in  1644 
when  he  joined  the  royalist  army,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  been  the  bearer  of  the  money  (one  thousand 
pounds)  which  his  uncle  lent  to  the  king. 

In  1660  Christopher  Gibbons,  who  had  shown  so 
much  loyalty  to  the  king,  was  appointed  organist  of 
the  Chapel  Royal,  private  organist  to  Charles  II.,  and 
organist  of  Westminster  Abbey.  He  was  the  or- 
ganist who  is  said  to  have  expressed  in  forcible 
terms  his  disapproval  of  Froberger's  talent  as  organ- 
blower.     He  died  in    1676  and  was   buried    in   the 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  39 

cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey.  Although  some  of 
his  anthems  are  still  extant,  he  excelled  more  as  a 
performer  than  as  a  composer. 

John  Amner,  who  was  contemporary  with  Orlando 
Gibbons,  was  organist  of  Ely  Cathedral,  where  he 
succeeded  George  Barcroft  in  i6io,  and  remained 
until  his  death  in  1641.  He  composed  much  church 
music,  of  which  some  portion  is  preserved  in  the 
books  at  Ely. 

Adrian  Batten,  the  date  of  whose  birth  is  un- 
known, was  brought  up  in  the  choir  of  Winchester 
Cathedral,  and  in  161 4  became  vicar-choral  of  West- 
minster Abbey.  In  1624  he  became  vicar-choral  and 
organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  He  left  considera- 
ble church  music,  of  which  some  is  still  in  use. 

WilHam  Childe,  a  native  of  Bristol  (1605),  grad- 
uated Bachelor  of  Music  at  Oxford  in  1631,  and 
became  organist  and  master  of  the  children  at  St. 
George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  in  1632,  succeeding  John 
Mundy.  Several  of  his  services  and  anthems  are 
printed  in  the  collections  of  Boyce  and  Arnold,  and 
Tudway.  Without  any  great  depth  of  science  or 
elevation  of  genius,  his  works  possess  a  great  degree 
of  warmth,  and  exhibit  imagination.  Doctor  Childe 
was  noted  for  his  acts  of  beneficence,  and  at  his  own 
expense  he  repaved  the  body  of  the  choir  of  St. 
George's  Chapel.  This  was  done  on  condition  that 
the  dean  and  chapter  pay  him  the  amount  of  salary 


40  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

due  to  him,  which  had  fallen  very  much  in  arrears. 
Doctor  Childe  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-one,  and  was 
buried  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  where  a  tablet  to  his 
memory  remains. 

During  Childe's  tenure  of  office  an  organ  was 
erected  in  St.  George's  Chapel  by  Ralph  Dallam. 
This  organ  contained  one  manual  and  523  pipes,  but 
had  novelties  in  the  way  of  compound  and  trumpet 
stops,  and  mechanical  arrangements  for  obtaining 
variety  of  effect. 

A  year  or  so  earlier  Bernhard  Schmidt  (generally 
known  as  Father  Smith),  who  had  just  arrived  in 
England,  built  a  three-manual  organ  for  the  ban- 
queting-room  at  Whitehall.  This  organ  had  one 
thousand  and  eight  pipes  and  nineteen  stops,  and 
although  it  did  not  in  all  respects  come  up  to  ex- 
pectations, yet  it  created  a  favourable  impression. 

An  organ  built  for  Exeter  Cathedral  in  1666  con- 
tained two  manuals,  fifteen  stops,  and  one  thousand 
and  eighty-four  pipes,  while  the  organ  erected  in  the 
Temple  Church,  London,  in  1682-84,  by  Schmidt, 
contained  three  manuals,  twenty-three  stops,  and 
seventeen  hundred  and  fifteen  pipes. 

These  organs,  it  will  be  noticed,  were  built  after 
the  civil  war.  During  the  period  of  this  strife,  from 
about  1 64 1  to  1660,  a  severe  blow  was  administered 
to  the  cause  of  music  in  England.  It  was  the  period 
of  the  Puritans,  and  Oliver  Cromwell,  with  his  armies, 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  4 1 

devastated  the  cathedrals  and  churches,  destroying 
organs,  and  music,  and  scattering  the  choirs  and 
musicians.  Sad  indeed  are  the  anecdotes  told  of  the 
wanton  destruction  of  the  organs,  which  were  con- 
sidered to  be  weapons  of  the  devil.  Organ  pipes 
were  torn  down  and  pawned  for  ale  (with  which  of 
course  the  devil  had  nothing  to  do),  valuable  books 
were  torn  in  pieces  and  the  fragments  scattered  to 
the  winds,  much  music  of  historical  value  being  thus 
destroyed  and  lost.  Barnard's  collection  of  church 
music,  for  instance,  suffered  to  such  an  extent  that 
no  perfect  copy  of  it  is  known  to  be  in  existence. 
This  collection,  compiled  by  the  Rev.  John  Barnard, 
was  printed  in  1641,  just  before  the  troubles  broke 
out. 

In  1644  an  ordinance  was  passed  "  for  the  further 
demolishing  of  monuments  of  Idolatry  and  Super- 
stition." This  was  the  second  ordinance  of  the  kind, 
and  in  it  the  destruction  of  organs  was  enjoined. 
Among  the  organs  which  escaped  destruction  were 
those  of  St.  Paul's,  York,  Durham,  and  Lincoln 
Cathedrals,  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  and  a  few 
others. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  wanton  destruction,  Oliver 
Cromwell,  it  is  said,  was  himself  a  lover  of  music,  and 
instances  are  on  record  of  his  befriending  musicians. 
His  secretary,  the  poet  Milton,  was  a  good  performer 
on  the  organ,  and  the  son  of  an  eminent  composer. 


42  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  organ  which  stood  in  Magdalen  College,  Oxford, 
was  saved  from  destruction  by  Cromwell,  who  caused 
it  to  be  removed  to  Hampton  Court,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  the  frequent  pleasure  of  hearing  it  played. 
Cromwell  also  appointed  as  his  music  master  and 
organist  one  John  Kingston,  at  a  salary  of  ;2^ioo  per 
annum,  and  according  to  Anthony  Wood,  who  lived 
during  the  Protectorate,  Oliver  Cromwell  "  loved  a 
good  voice  and  instrumental  music  well," 

There  were  indications,  too,  during  the  latter  years 
of  Cromwell's  life,  that  the  art  of  music  would  receive 
more  distinct  assistance.  Many  learned  musical 
treatises  were  published  during  the  Protectorate,  and 
music  was  enjoyed  privately.  In  1656  a  license  was 
granted  to  William  Davenant  to  open  a  kind  of 
theatre,  in  a  room  behind  Rutland  House,  Aldersgate 
Street,  London,  for  an  "  entertainment  in  declamation 
and  music  after  the  manner  of  the  ancients,"  and 
later  on  other  similar  enterprises  were  allowed. 

Church  music,  however,  had  been  practically 
stopped,  and  the  forces  so  scattered  that  on  the  Res- 
toration only  three  men  —  Doctor  Wilson,  Christopher 
Gibbons,  and  Henry  Lavves  —  came  forward  to  claim 
their  appointments.  In  the  same  way,  most  of  the 
skilled  organ-builders  had  been  dispersed.  Many 
had  been  obliged  to  work  as  carpenters  or  joiners, 
while  others  had  gone  abroad,  so  that  very  few 
skilled  men  were  to  be  found.     Inducements  were 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  43 

offered  to  encourage  Continental  builders  to  settle 
in  England,  and  in  response  to  the  invitation,  Bern- 
hard  Schmidt,  with  his  two  nephe'ws,  settled  in  Eng- 
land, and  Thomas  Harris,  an  Englishman,  with  his 
son,  Renatus,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  France,  re- 
turned to  his  native  land.  These,  together  with 
Henry  Loosemore,  of  Exeter,  and  Robert  and  Ralph 
Dallam,  were,  for  some  years,  the  chief  organ-builders 
in  England. 

Loosemore,  in  1665,  built  an  organ  for  Exeter  Ca- 
thedral, containing  the  largest  pipes  made  in  England 
up  to  that  time,  viz.,  an  open  diapason,  of  which  the 
speaking  part  was  twenty  feet  six  inches  long.  The 
organ  contained  two  manuals,  fifteen  stops,  and  one 
thousand  and  eighty-four  pipes. 

Thomas  Harris,  in  1667,  built  an  organ  of  fourteen 
stops,  chiefly  foundation-stops,  for  Worcester  Cathe- 
dral, but  it  did  not  compare  favourably  with  the  organs 
of  his  rivals,  nor  with  one  which  he  built  about  1670, 
in  London,  for  St.  Sepulchre's  Church.  This  organ 
was  of  two  manuals,  eighteen  stops,  and  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  seventy  pipes.  Schmidt  built  the 
organ  for  the  Temple  Church  in  1682,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  but  both  Schmidt  and  Harris  built  or- 
gans for  this  church  in  competition.  That  of  Schmidt 
was  set  up  in  the  west  gallery,  and  that  of  Harris  on 
the  south  side  of  the  communion  table.  These  organs 
were  at  first  exhibited  separately  on  appointed  days, 


44  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  then  tried  on  the  same  day.  Although  they 
were  completed  in  1684,  it  was  not  until  nearly  four 
years  later  that  the  decision  was  given  in  favour  of 
Schmidt's  organ.  This  instrument  reached  in  the 
bass  to  FFF.  From  FF  upward  it  had  two  additional 
keys  or  quarter  notes  in  each  octave,  "  which  rarityes," 
we  are  told,  "  no  other  organ  in  England  hath  ;  and 
can  play  any  tune,  as,  for  instance,  ye  tune  of  ye 
119th  Psalm  (in  E  minor),  and  severall  other  services 
set  by  excellent  musicians  ;  which  no  other  organ 
will  do."  This  description  gives  a  sufficient  picture 
of  the  limitations  of  the  finest  organs  in  those  days, 
and  offers  a  reasonable  ground  for  the  statement  that 
the  concert  organist  had  not  yet  come  into  existence. 

The  love  of  ornament  and  luxury,  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  seventeenth  century,  had  its  influence 
upon  organ-building,  particularly  in  regard  to  the  ex- 
terior of  the  instruments.  Perhaps  it  will  be  per- 
missible to  quote  once  more  the  often  quoted  portion 
of  Seidel's  work  on  the  organ  : 

"  At  this  time,  great  industry  and  expense  was  be- 
stowed upon  the  external  decoration  of  the  organ. 
The  entire  case  was  ornamented  with  statues,  the 
heads  of  angels,  vases,  foliage,  and  even  figures  of 
animals.  Sometimes  the  front  pipes  were  painted 
with  grotesque  figures,  and  the  lips  of  the  pipes 
made  to  resemble  lions'  jaws.  They  went  farther, 
and  threw  away  the  money  which  might  have  been 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  45 

expended  in  a  worthier  manner,  on  the  display  of  the 
most  tasteless  and  absurd  trick  of  art,  degrading 
thereby  —  doubtless  unintentionally  —  a  noble  instru- 
ment, intended  for  sacred  purposes,  into  a  raree-show. 
Among  these  ornaments  the  figures  of  angels  played 
a  very  conspicuous  part  ;  trumpets  were  placed  in 
their  hands,  which  by  means  of  mechanism  could  be 
moved  to  and  from  the  mouth.  Carillons  (bells),  too, 
and  kettledrums  were  performed  upon  by  the  movable 
arms  of  angels.  In  the  midst  of  this  heavenly  host, 
sometimes  a  gigantic  angel  would  be  exhibited  hover- 
ing in  a  '  glory  '  over  the  organ,  beating  time  with  his 
baton  as  conductor  of  this  super-earthly  orchestra. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  firmament,  of  course, 
could  not  be  dispensed  with.  So  we  had  wandering 
suns  and  moons,  and  jingling  stars  in  motion.  Even 
the  animal  kingdom  was  summoned  to  activity. 
Cuckoos,  nightingales,  and  every  species  of  bird,  sing- 
ing, or  rather  chirping,  glorified  the  festival  of  Christ- 
mas, and  announced  to  the  assembled  congregation 
the  birth  of  the  Redeemer,  Eagles  flapped  their 
wings,  or  flew  toward  an  artificial  sun.  The  climax, 
however,  of  all  these  rarities,  was  the  fox-tail.  It 
was  intended  to  frighten  away  from  the  organ  all 
such  inquisitive  persons  as  had  no  business  near  it. 
Thus,  when  they  pulled  out  this  draw-stop,  suddenly 
a  large  fox-tail  flew  into  their  faces  !  It  was  clear 
that  by   such  absurd  practices   curiosity  was  much 


46  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

rather  excited  than  stopped,  and  that  all  this  host  of 
moving  figures,  and  their  ridiculous  jingling,  disturbed 
meditation,  excited  the  curiosity  of  the  congregation, 
and  thus  disparaged  the  sublimity  of  divine  service." 

We  will  now  return  to  the  organists  of  the  time  of 
the  civil  war. 

Arthur  Phillips  (born  1605)  was  appointed  organist 
of  Bristol  Cathedral  in  1638,  and  of  Magdalen  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  in  the  following  year.  He  soon  after- 
ward joined  the  Roman  Church  and  became  organist 
to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  in  whose  service  he  went 
to  France.  It  was  his  organ  which  Cromwell  re- 
moved to  Hampton  Court. 

Doctor  Benjamin  Rogers  (born  16 14)  appears  to 
have  been  a  somewhat  nomadic  character,  for  he  held 
a  great  variety  of  appointments  at  various  times,  viz., 
Christ  Church,  Dublin,  Eton  College,  St.  George's, 
Windsor  (as  deputy),  and  Magdalen  College,  Oxford. 
This  latter  place  he  lost  on  account  of  certain  irregu- 
larities, but  was  granted  an  annuity.  He  composed 
much  church  music,  and  some  of  his  anthems  are  to 
be  found  in  the  collections  of  Boyce,  Rimbault,  and 
Ouseley.      He  died  in  1698. 

Edward  Lowe,  a  native  and  chorister  of  Salisbury, 
became  organist  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Oxford, 
and  professor  of  music  in  the  university,  and  was  for 
a  time  organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  He  died  in 
1682. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  47 

A  more  noted  musician  and  prolific  composer  was 
Matthew  Locke,  a  native  and  chorister  of  Exeter, 
who  was  appointed  composer  in  ordinary  to  the  king. 
Locke  does  not  appear  to  have  held  any  more  impor- 
tant position  than  that  of  organist  to  the  queen,  but 
he  wrote  some  church  music  for  the  Chapel  Royal 
and  became  embroiled  with  the  choir.  He  died  in 
1677,  and  Purcell  composed  an  elegy  on  his  death. 

Doctor  John  Blow,  though  not  one  of  the  first 
organists  appointed  after  the  Restoration,  was  one 
of  the  first  set  of  children  of  the  Chapel  Royal  on 
its  reestablishment  in  1660,  under  Captain  Henry 
Cooke,  who  is  mentioned  frequently  in  Pepys's  diary. 
Amongst  the  fellow  choristers  of  Blow  were  Pelham 
Humfrey  and  William  Turner,  who,  with  him,  com- 
posed an  anthem  with  orchestral  accompaniment, 
while  they  were  yet  boys. 

Pelham  Humfrey  was  a  youth  of  such  conspicuous 
talent  that  he  was  sent  to  France  by  the  king  that 
he  might  study  under  Lully.  But  Humfrey's  prom- 
ising career  was  cut  short  by  death  when  he  was  but 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

John  Blow  was  born  in  1648,  in  Nottinghamshire, 
and  rose  to  eminence  rapidly,  for  he  was  chosen 
organist  of  Westminster  Abbey  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  Eleven  years  later  Purcell,  his  pupil,  was 
appointed  to  this  office  at  the  request  of  Blow,  but 
on  Purcell's  death  Blow  was  reinstated.      He  held 


48  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

many  oflfices,  and  was  the  first  regularly  appointed 
composer  to  the  Chapel  Royal. 

Unfortunately  but  little  of  Blow's  music  has  been 
published,  though  he  was  a  voluminous  composer. 
Three  services  and  eleven  anthems  are  printed  in 
Boyce's  collection,  but  fourteen  services  and  over 
one  hundred  anthems  are  in  existence. 

Doctor  Blow  is  said  to  have  been  a  very  handsome 
man,  and  remarkable  for  gravity  of  deportment, 
blameless  morals,  and  a  benevolent  temper.  Haw- 
kins says  of  him  :  "  Such  as  would  form  a  true  esti- 
mate of  his  character  as  a  musician  must  have 
recourse  to  his  compositions  for  the  Church,  his 
services  and  anthems,  which  afford  abundant  reason 
to  say  of  Doctor  Blow,  that  among  church  musicians 
he  has  few  equals  and  scarce  any  superior." 

Doctor  Blow  died  in  1708  and  was  buried  under 
the  organ  in  the  north  aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  inscription  on  his  monument  appropriately  says  : 
"  His  own  musical  compositions,  especially  his  church 
musick,  are  a  far  nobler  monument  to  his  memory 
than  any  other  that  can  be  raised  for  him."  Doctor 
Blow  was  the  teacher  of  several  musicians  who  rose 
to  eminence,  such  as  Jeremiah  Clarke,  William  Croft, 
and  Henry  Purcell,  but  of  these  the  greatest  genius 
was  Purcell,  who  indeed  has  been  called  the  greatest 
of  all  English  musicians. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PURCELL  TO  HANDEL 

The  effect  of  the  Puritan  rule  in  England  upon 
music  is  strikingly  indicated  in  Matthew  Locke's 
"  Present  Practise  of  Musick  Vindicated,"  which  was 
published  in  1673.  He  says:  "For  above  a  year 
after  the  opening  of  his  Majestie's  chapel,  the 
orderers  of  the  musick  there  were  necessitated  to 
supply  the  superior  parts  of  the  music  with  cornets 
and  men's  feigned  voices,  there  being  not  one  lad  for 
all  that  time  capable  of  singing  his  part  readily." 

The  year  1658  may  be  considered  to  mark  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era  in  music.  It  is  doubly  mem- 
orable because  in  it  occurred  the  death  of  Cromwell 
and  the  birth  of  Henry  Purcell,  who  raised  the 
musical  fame  of  England  to  a  height  it  had  never 
before  attained.  Purcell  was  born  in  St.  Ann's  Lane, 
Old  Pye  Street,  Westminster. 

Henry  Purcell,  the  father  of  the  great  composer, 
was  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  in  that 
capacity  sang  at  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.  He 
was  also  a  singing-man,  master  of  the  chorister  boys, 

49 


50  THE    ORGAA'  AND   ITS   MASTERS 

and  music  copyist  of  Westminster  Abbey,  and  he 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Matthew  Locke,  in  whose 
company  be  met  Samuel  Pepys,  Esq.,  and  thus  ap- 
pears in  the  celebrated  diary.  The  elder  Purcell 
died  in  1664,  leaving  his  son  of  six  years  old  to  the 
care  of  an  uncle,  Thomas  Purcell,  who  also  was  a 
gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal  and  was  held  in  high 
favour  by  the  king. 

Thomas  Purcell  was  chief  lutenist,  composer  in 
ordinary  for  the  vioUns,  and  leader  of  the  king's  band 
of  "four  and  twenty  fiddlers."  Many  other  appoint- 
ments, also,  he  held,  but  the  chief  interest  to  us  is 
that  to  his  care  fell  the  education  of  young  Henry 
Purcell.  Accordingly  the  boy  was  placed  in  the 
choir  of  the  Chapel  Royal  under  Captain  Henry 
Cooke,  who  was  at  that  time  the  master  of  the 
children.  For  eight  years,  or  until  he  was  fourteen 
years  of  age,  Purcell  remained  under  the  instruction 
of  Captain  Cooke,  and  already  began  to  show  his 
talent  as  a  composer,  for  many  of  the  anthems  now 
in  use  in  the  Church  were  written  during  this 
period. 

Captain  Cooke  died  in  1672  and  was  succeeded  by 
Pelham  Humfrey,  who  also  died  in  1674,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Doctor  John  Blow.  Purcell  became  a 
pupil  of  Blow,  who  took  pains  to  proclaim  the  re- 
markable abilities  of  his  talented  pupil,  as  he  did  also 
those   of   Jeremiah    Clarke.     In   fact.   Doctor  Blow 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  5  I 

resigned  his  offices  at  Westminster  Abbey  and  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  in  order  that  they  might  occupy 
these  prominent  and  advantageous  positions.  Thus 
Purcell  became  organist  of  Westminster  Abbey  in 
1680,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  had  been 
appointed  copyist  in  1676,  and  held  that  position 
for  two  years,  resigning  it  in  order  that  he  might 
devote  more  time  to  study  and  composition,  but  in 
1689  he  was  reappointed  to  this  post. 

In  addition  to  being  organist  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  Purcell  was  in  1682  appointed  to  a  similar 
post  at  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  in  addition  to  all  his 
duties  in  connection  with  these  two  important  posi- 
tions, he  was  assiduous  in  composition,  bringing  out 
many  new  works  for  the  theatres  and  for  state 
occasions. 

Purcell  married  in  168 1,  and  in  the  following  year 
(July  31,  1682)  his  uncle,  Thomas  Purcell,  who  had 
been  more  than  a  father  to  him,  died,  and  was  buried 
in  the  cloisters  of  the  Abbey.  A  few  days  later 
a  son  was  born  to  Purcell,  but  survived  only  a  few 
months.  This  child  was  named  John  Baptista,  as 
a  mark  of  friendly  regard  for  John  Baptist  Draghi, 
the  well-known  musician,  who  was  in  England  about 
that  time.  Purcell's  other  children  were  Thomas, 
bom  and  died  1686;  Henry,  born  and  died  1687; 
Frances,  born  1688  —  she  married  in  1707  L. 
Welsted;    Edward,   born    1689,  became  organist  of 


52  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  in  1726,  and  died  in 
1740. 

The  year  1684  is  remarkable  for  the  organ  compe- 
tition at  the  Temple  Church,  London,  which  has 
already  been  alluded  to.  In  this  competition  the 
rival  organ-builders  selected  the  organists  who  should 
exhibit  their  instruments.  Smith  (or  Schmidt)  se- 
lected Doctor  John  Blow  and  Henry  Purcell.  Harris, 
the  rival  builder,  obtained  the  services  of  John 
Baptist  Draghi,  whose  skill  and  popularity  as  an 
organist  is  proved  by  frequent  mention  in  records 
of  the  time.  It  is  possible  that  the  decision  in 
favour  of  Smith's  organ  may  have  been  reached 
through  the  fact  of  its  jDossessing  the  two  extra 
quarter  tones  in  each  octave,  which,  it  has  been 
intimated,  were  added  at  Purcell's  suggestion,  and 
which  gave  him  additional  facilities  for  modulating 
into  remote  keys.  Smith  was  organist  of  St.  Mar- 
garet's, Westminster,  and  was  on  very  friendly  terms 
with  Purcell. 

In  the  following  year  Purcell  was  actively  con- 
cerned in  superintending  the  erection  of  an  organ  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  expressly  for  the  coronation  of 
James  II.  and  his  queen.  This  was  a  small  instru- 
ment placed  just  behind  the  seats  occupied  by  the 
"  King's  Choir  of  Vocal  Musick,"  in  a  gallery  under 
a  soiuh  chancel  arch,  opposite  to  that  in  which  sat 
the  "King's  Instrumental  Musick."     For  this  coro- 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  53 

nation  Purcell  wrote  two  anthems,  "  I  was  glad," 
and  "  My  heart  is  inditing." 

In  1686  Purcell  composed  a  "  Quickstep,"  which, 
although  not  in  itself  of  a  nature  to  be  dealt  with 
in  these  pages,  may  be  mentioned  as  leading  to 
important  events.  This  "Quickstep"  was  selected 
and  applied  to  the  absurd  verses  of  the  song  "  Lilli- 
burlero,"  which  was  a  satire  on  the  papists.  Such 
was  the  popularity  of  the  music,  that  the  song 
spread  like  wildfire.  The  whole  army,  and  then  the 
whole  people,  in  city  and  country,  were  singing  it 
perpetually,  so  that,  as  Bishop  Burnet  wrote,  "  never 
had  so  slight  a  thing  so  great  an  effect."  The  song 
is  said  to  have  contributed  not  a  little  toward  the 
great  revolution  of  1688,  which  resulted  in  the 
abdication  of  King  James,  and  the  accession  of 
William  and  Mary. 

In  connection  with  the  coronation  of  William  and 
Mary  a  story  is  told  which  is  interesting,  because  it 
throws  some  light  upon  the  privileges  of  organists. 
Purcell  admitted  into  the  organ-loft  some  persons 
who  were  desirous  of  being  near  spectators  of  the 
ceremony,  and  who  were  willing  to  pay  for  the  privi- 
lege. Purcell  retained  this  money  as  a  perquisite  of 
his  office,  but  the  dean  and  chapter,  Doctor  Sprat, 
claimed  it. 

Whether  Purcell  was  within  his  rights  or  not,  the 
dean  had  the  advantage  of  him,  for  upon  the  chapter 


54  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

book  of  the  period  there  is  an  entry  ordering  that 
"  Mr.  Purcell  pay  to  Mr.  Needham  such  moneys  as 
was  received  by  him  for  places  in  the  organ-loft, 
in  default  of  which  his  place  is  to  be  declared  null 
and  void,  and  his  stipend  to  be  detained  in  the  hands 
of  the  treasurer  until  further  orders."  According 
to  one  account  Purcell  is  mentioned  as  "organ- 
blower,"  a  term  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  used 
in  malice,  but  according  to  Doctor  Benjamin  Cooke, 
the  word  in  the  record  is  organist,  and  not  organ- 
blower. 

In  1695  Purcell  composed  two  anthems  for  the 
funeral  of  Queen  Mary,  "  Blessed  is  the  man,"  and 
"  Thou  knowest.  Lord."  Concerning  these  anthems 
Doctor  Tudway,  who  was  a  member  of  the  choir, 
wrote :  "  The  anthem,  '  Blessed  is  the  man,'  was 
composed  after  the  old  way,  and  was  sung  at  the 
interment  of  Queen  Mary  in  Westminster  Abbey 
...  I  appeal  to  all  that  were  present,  as  well  such 
as  understood  music,  as  those  that  did  not,  whether 
they  ever  heard  anything  so  rapturously  fine  and 
solemn,  and  so  heavenly  in  the  operation,  which  drew 
tears  from  all ;  and  yet  a  plain,  natural  composition 
which  shows  the  power  of  music,  when  'tis  rightly 
fitted  and  adapted  to  devotional  purposes."  The 
other  anthem,  "  Thou  knowest.  Lord,  the  secrets  of 
our  hearts,"  "  was  accompanied  by  flat,  mournful 
trumpets."     This  majestic  movement  is  a  splendid 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  55 

monument  to  the  memory  of  Purcell,  and  has  been 
used  at  every  choral  funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey 
and  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  since  its  first  production. 
Doctor  Croft,  who  subsequently  set  to  music  the 
"  Burial  Office,"  refrained  from  composing  music  to 
these  words,  because  he  declared  that  the  music  of 
Purcell  was  unapproachable,  and  he  adds  that  in  com- 
posing his  own  music  he  had  endeavoured,  as  near  as 
possible,  to  imitate  "  that  great  master  and  celebrated 
composer,  whose  name  will  for  ever  stand  high  in  the 
ranks  of  those  who  have  laboured  to  improve  the 
English  style,  in  his  so  happily  adapting  his  composi- 
tions to  English  words  in  that  elegant  and  judicious 
manner,  as  was  unknown  to  many  of  his  predeces- 
sors." 

At  the  time  of  writing  these  anthems  Purcell  was 
in  a  delicate  state  of  health,  yet  he  worked  on  with 
undiminished  activity  and  determination.  But  dis- 
ease had  fastened  its  grip  upon  him,  and  on  Novem- 
ber 21,  1695,  he  passed  away.  Five  days  later 
he  was  interred  in  Westminster  Abbey,  beneath  the 
organ,  the  anthems  which  he  had  written  for  the 
funeral  of  Queen  Mary  being  repeated  for  his  own 
obsequies. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  any  space  in  these  pages 
to  the  consideration  of  secular  music,  but  it  must  be 
stated  that  while  Purcell's  church  music  places  him 
at  the  head  of  church  music  composers,  his  secular 


56  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

music  is  more  voluminous,  and  includes  some  of  the 
choicest  gems.  The  music  of  "The  Tempest"  is 
extremely  beautiful ;  the  songs  "  Come  unto  These 
Yellow  Sands,"  and  *'  Full  Fathom  Five,"  are  well 
known,  and  are  frequently  to  be  found  in  concert 
programmes  at  the  present  day. 

Concerning  Purcell  and  his  music  the  Reverend 
Arthur  Bedford,  who  published  in  171  i  a  volume 
entitled  the  "  Great  Abuse  of  Musick,"  writes : 
"  Our  musick  began  to  equal  that  of  the  Italians  and 
to  exceed  all  other.  Our  Purcell  was  the  delight  of 
the  nation  and  the  wonder  of  the  world,  and  the 
character  of  Doctor  Blow  was  little  inferior  to  him." 

Doctor  Tudway  also  may  be  quoted  :  "  I  knew  him 
perfectly  well.  He  had  a  most  commendable  ambi- 
tion of  exceeding  every  one  of  his  time,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  it  without  contradiction,  there  being  none 
in  England,  nor  anywhere  else  that  I  know  of,  that 
could  come  in  competition  with  him  for  compositions 
of  all  kinds.  Toward  the  latter  end  of  his  life  he 
was  prevailed  upon  to  compose  for  the  English  stage. 
There  was  nothing  that  had  ever  appeared  in  Eng- 
land like  the  representations  he  made  of  all  kinds, 
whether  for  pomp  or  solemnity,  in  his  grand  chorus, 
etc.,  or  that  exquisite  piece  called  the  freezing 
piece  of  musick;  in  representing  a  mad  couple,  or 
country  swains  making  love,  or  indeed  any  other 
kind  of  music  whatever.     But  these    are   trifles    in 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  57 

comparison  of  the  solemn  pieces  he  made  for  the 
Church,  in  which  I  will  name  but  one,  and  that  is 
his  Te  Deum,  etc.,  with  instruments,  a  composition 
for  skill  and  invention  beyond  what  was  ever  at- 
tempted in  England  before  his  time." 

As  for  his  fame  abroad,  it  is  related  that  Corelli, 
who  flourished  in  Rome  contemporaneously  with 
Purcell,  declared  that  the  latter  was  the  only  thing 
worth  seeing  in  England,  and  the  great  opinion  he 
held  of  Purcell  made  him  resolve  to  journey  to  Eng- 
land to  visit  him,  a  scheme  which  was  frustrated  by 
Purcell' s  death. 

Jeremiah  Clarke,  after  leaving  the  choir  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  became  for  a  short  time  organist  of 
Winchester  College,  but  in  1693  Doctor  Blow,  who 
was  always  anxious  to  forward  the  interests  of  his 
talented  pupils,  resigned  in  his  favour  the  appoint- 
ments of  almoner  and  master  of  the  children  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  and  in  1695  Clarke  was  appointed 
organist  and  vicar  choral  of  the  cathedral.  Five 
years  later  he  and  William  Croft  were  sworn  in  as 
gentlemen  extraordinary  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  with 
the  joint  reversion  of  an  organist's  place,  whenever 
one  should  become  vacant.  This  occurred  in  1704,  on 
the  death  of  Francis  Piggott,  and  Clarke  and  Croft 
were  accordingly  sworn  in  as  joint  organists.  Clarke 
wrote  but  little  church  music,  but  that  little  was 
good,  and  two  of  his  anthems  are   still  favourites. 


58  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Clarke  was  one  of  the  most  popular  musicians  of  his 
day.  He  died  by  his  own  hand  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight.  Having  fallen  in  love  with  a  lady  whose 
station  in  life  was  far  above  his  own,  he  became  a 
victim  to  despair  and  shot  himself. 

The  year  of  his  death  marked  a  new  era  in  musical 
art  in  England,  for  with  the  introduction  of  Italian 
opera,  encouragement  was  given  to  foreign  produc- 
tions and  foreign  music  in  preference  to  that  which  was 
English,  a  condition  which  continued,  and  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  ceased  to  exist  even  at  the  present  day. 
Native  art  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  church 
music,  and  from  among  all  the  musicians  of  the  time 
only  a  very  few  maintained  the  prestige  of  English 
church  composers.  Of  these  Weldon,  Croft,  Greene, 
and  Boyce  were  the  most  prominent  during  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

William  Croft  was  born  in  Warwickshire  in  the 
year  1677,  ^^"^  was  admitted  to  the  Chapel  Royal  as 
chorister  when  eight  years  of  age.  Here  he  was  a 
pupil  of  Doctor  Blow,  who  recommended  him  in  1699 
to  the  position  of  organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Anne, 
Soho,  where  an  organ  had  recently  been  erected. 
This  place  he  retained  until  171 1,  although  he  also 
received  the  Chapel  Royal  appointments  already 
mentioned,  and  in  1707,  on  the  death  of  Clarke  be- 
came sole  organist  there.  John  Isham,  his  pupil, 
acted  as  deputy  for  him  at  St.  Anne's.    In  1 708,  on  the 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  59 

death  of  Doctor  Blow,  he  was  made  organist  of  West- 
minster Abbey,  and  at  the  same  time  master  of  the 
children  and  composer  to  the  Chapel  Royal.  In  this 
latter  capacity  he  had  occasion  to  write  many  of  the 
anthems  which  gave  him  such  a  prominent  place  in 
the  list  of  English  church  composers.  They  were 
written  for  special  occasions,  such  as  the  frequent 
public  thanksgivings  for  victories,  etc.  Doctor  Cjoft 
published  in  1724,  by  subscription,  his  "  Musica 
Sacra,"  a  collection  of  thirty  anthems  and  a  burial 
service,  the  latter  being  a  completion  of  one  begun 
but  not  finished  by  Purcell.  This  was  the  first  pub- 
lication of  a  number  of  anthems  in  score,  the  only 
previous  attempt  of  a  similar  nature  having  been  a 
service  of  Purcell's,  which  was  not  well  done.  Croft's 
anthems,  "God  is  gone  up,"  and  "We  will  rejoice," 
are  in  constant  use  at  the  present  day,  as  is  also  his 
service  in  A,  of  which  the  Gloria  and  the  Jubilate 
have  never  been  surpassed  for  magnificence  and 
power.  Four  anthems  are  published  in  Boyce's  col- 
lection, and  two  of  Croft's  hymn-tunes,  St,  Anne's  and 
St.  Matthew's,  will  live  as  long  as  church  music  lasts. 

Doctor  Croft  died  in  1727,  and  was  buried  in  the 
north  aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey,  near  to  Doctor 
Blow. 

John  Weldon  was  a  native  of  Chichester,  and  was 
educated  in  the  choir  at  Eton,  from  which  place  he 
was   transferred  to  Westminster  Abbey,   where  he 


6o  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

became  a  pupil  of  Henry  Purcell.  He  was  appointed 
organist  of  New  College,  Oxford,  a  position  which  he 
held  for  some  two  years,  when  he  became  a  gentle- 
man extraordinary  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  suc- 
ceeded Doctor  Blow  there  as  organist  in  1708. 
Weldon  wrote  some  beautiful  music  for  the  Church, 
in  which  deep  religious  sentiment  appears  to  have 
been  the  motive  power.  In  his  anthem  "  Hear  my 
crying,"  is  to  be  found  the  earliest  instance  on  record 
of  the  employment  of  an  inversion  of  the  chord  of 
the  augmented  sixth.  Mr.  W.  A.  Barrett  remarks 
that  "  these  sixths  are  of  the  family  called,  alternately, 
German,  Italian,  and  Neapolitan,  because  they  were 
discovered  by  an  Englishman,  and  that  Englishman 
John  Weldon,  whose  powers  of  invention  and  har- 
monical  combination  seem  very  much  limited,  accord- 
ing to  Doctor  Burney." 

Weldon,  in  addition  to  other  appointments,  held 
that  of  organist  at  St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street,  and  also 
that  of  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields.  In  regard  to  this 
latter  position,  it  is  related  that  the  king  had  been 
appointed  church  warden  to  the  parish,  but  after  two 
months'  experience  of  the  duties  of  that  office,  grew 
weary  and  gave  the  parish  an  organ,  which  cost 
fifteen  hundred  pounds,  by  way  of  a  solace  on  resign- 
ing his  office.  The  organist  also  was  part  of  the 
present,  for  Weldon  was  organist  to  the  king.  He 
died  in  1736. 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  6 1 

Maurice  Greene  was  a  native  of  London,  and  was 
educated  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  where  he  was  under 
Jeremiah  Clarke,  Charles  King,  and  Richard  Brind. 
After  the  deaths  of  Croft  and  Weldon,  he  rapidly- 
rose  to  the  front  rank  of  his  profession.  In  1 7 1 5  he 
was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West, 
and  in  17 17  he  was  elected  organist  of  St.  Andrew's, 
Holborn,  in  preference  to  Daniel  Purcell,  the  brother 
of  Henry  Purcell.  He  held  both  of  these  positions 
until  the  death  of  his  master,  Richard  Brind,  when 
he  resigned  them  to  become  organist  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  and  vicar  choral.  In  1727  he  became  or- 
ganist to  the  Chapel  Royal  (on  the  death  of  Croft), 
and  three  years  later  he  accepted  the  post  of  profes- 
sor of  music  at  Cambridge  on  the  death  of  Doctor 
Tudway.  In  1735  he  became  "Master  of  the  King's 
Musick." 

Greene  published  his  "  Forty  Select  Anthems  "  in 
1743,  but  while  there  is  evidence  of  genius  in  his 
music,  he  is  criticised  as  having  been  too  anxious  to 
minister  to  the  popular  fancy  of  his  time. 

Doctor  Greene  came  to  grief  by  trying  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  both  Handel  and  his  rival  Buonon- 
cini.  The  latter,  less  fortunate  than  Handel,  was  dis- 
covered to  have  appropriated  a  madrigal  by  Lotti 
and  published  it  as  his  own,  and  left  England  in  dis- 
grace. Doctor  Greene,  who  had  produced  the  madri- 
gal with  a  view  to  exalt  the  character  of  Buononcini, 


62  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

unable  to  withstand  the  reproaches  levelled  at  him, 
left  the  Academy  of  Ancient  Music  of  which  he  was 
a  member,  and  gave  a  concert  under  his  own  manage- 
ment, at  the  Devil  Tavern,  in  Fleet  Street. 

Doctor  Greene's  organ-playing  was  much  admired, 
yet  he  was  the  first  who  indulged  in  that  peculiar 
form  of  playing  represented  by  "  cornet  voluntaries," 
that  is  to  say,  a  habit  of  flourishing  with  a  solo  stop 
on  the  right  hand,  accompanied  with  soft  foundation- 
stops  on  the  left. 

Doctor  Greene  was  small  of  stature  and  disfigured 
by  a  deformity,  yet  his  courteous  manners  and  pol- 
ished address  made  him  welcome  in  society.  His 
character  does  not  seem  to  have  been  specially  ad- 
mired among  musicians.  His  later  years  were  spent 
in  comparative  affluence,  and  he  gave  up  his  teaching 
and  devoted  his  leisure  to  collecting  and  arranging  the 
works  of  the  old  church  composers.  This  task  was 
incomplete  at  his  death  and  he  bequeathed  it  to  Doc- 
tor Boyce.  He  died  in  1755,  aged  sixty.  Greene's 
daughter  married  the  Reverend  Michael  Festing,  the 
son  of  the  Festing  who  was  associated  with  Greene 
in  the  foundation  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Musicians. 

Although  Handel  was  a  German,  he  became  a  nat- 
uralised Englishman,  and  was  so  long  identified  with 
English  music  and  musical  life  in  England,  that  his 
proper  place  seems  to  be  among  the  musicians  of 
his  adopted  country. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  63 

Handel  was  born  at  Halle  in  1685,  and  was  the 
son  of  a  surgeon,  who  had  arrived  at  the  mature  age 
of  sixty-three  before  the  young  musician,  Georg 
Friedrich,  was  presented  to  him.  The  details  of  the 
early  life  of  Handel  are  so  familiar  to  all  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  them  at  length  in  these 
pages.  How  he  studied  music  surreptitiously,  and 
ran  behind  his  father's  carriage  when  the  latter  went 
on  a  visit  to  Weissenfels,  and  how  the  father  at  last 
took  him  into  the  carriage,  is  a  familiar  story.  On 
reaching  the  castle  the  boy  at  once  made  friends  of 
some  musicians  attached  to  the  service  of  the  duke's 
chapel  who  took  him  into  the  organ-loft,  where,  after 
service,  the  organist  lifted  him  upon  the  stool  and 
permitted  him  to  play  upon  the  instrument.  Thus 
was  the  sympathy  of  the  duke,  who  witnessed  the 
scene,  enlisted,  with  the  result  that  the  young  Handel 
began  his  musical  education,  and  the  idea  of  a  legal 
career  was  abandoned. 

On  his  return  to  Halle  the  boy  was  placed  under 
Zachau,  the  organist,  who  taught  him  to  play  upon 
the  organ,  harpsichord,  violin,  hautboy,  and  most  of 
the  orchestral  instruments  of  the  period,  besides  in- 
structing him  in  the  arts  of  counterpoint  and  fugue. 

About  1696  the  young  musician  was  sent  to  Berlin, 
where  his  talent  became  so  conspicuous  that  the  Elec- 
tor Friedrich  offered  to  send  him,  free  of  expense, 
to  Italy  to  complete  his  education.     But  to  this  his 


64  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

father  objected,  and  the  boy  was  summoned  back  to 
Halle,  where,  a  few  months  later,  his  father  died.  In 
1702  Handel  was  admitted  as  a  student  to  the  newly 
founded  University  of  Halle,  and  in  the  same  year, 
owing  to  the  dismissal  of  Leporin,  the  organist,  in 
disgrace,  Handel  was  appointed  to  fill  his  position  at 
the  cathedral  attached  to  the  Moritzberg,  subject  to 
a  term  of  twelve  months'  probation.  This  appoint- 
ment was  second  in  importance  to  that  of  Liebfrau- 
enkirche,  and  the  salary  connected  with  it  was  fifty 
thalers  per  annum,  with  an  official  residence,  which 
was  underlet  for  a  sum  of  sixteen  thalers.  The  or- 
gan was  a  remarkably  fine  one,  built  in  1667,  and 
contained  two  manuals,  twenty-eight  stops,  and  fif- 
teen hundred  pipes.  The  duties  of  the  organist 
included  seeing  that  the  instrument  was  kept  in 
proper  repair  and  working  order,  also  that  he  should 
set  to  music  the  psalms  and  church  cantatas  proper 
for  all  Sundays  and  festivals  throughout  the  year, 
and  take  whatever  measures  might  be  necessary  for 
their  correct  and  efficient  performance. 

No  sooner  was  his  term  of  probation  over  than 
Handel  gave  up  the  appointment  and  set  forth  for 
Hamburg,  where  he  secured  an  engagement  as 
ripieno  second  violin  in  the  opera  orchestra,  and 
here  he  soon  struck  up  a  friendship  with  Johann 
Mattheson,  the  principal  tenor  singer  at  the  opera, 
who  became  celebrated  for  his  literary  productions. 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  65 

To  him  we  are  indebted  for  much    that    we    know 
about  Handel. 

Mattheson  and  Handel  together  visited  organs  and 
choirs,  operas  and  concerts,  and  while  Mattheson 
appears  to  have  had  small  regard  for  Handel's  ability 
as  a  composer  at  that  time,  he  says  :  "■  He  was  great 
upon  the  organ  ;  greater  than  Kuhnau  in  fugue  and 
counterpoint,  especially  extempore,  though  he  knew 
but  little  of  melody  until  he  frequented  the  Hamburg 
opera.  On  the  other  hand,  Kuhnau's  pieces  were 
always  melodious  and  chantants,  even  those  intended 
only  to  be  played.  In  former  times  scarcely  any 
one  bestowed  a  thought  upon  melody ;  bare  harmony 
was  the  end  and  aim  of  everything." 

In  August  of  that  year  (1703)  Mattheson  was  in- 
vited to  Liibeck  as  successor  to  Buxtehude,  and  took 
Handel  with  him.  They  played  upon  almost  every 
organ  and  harpsichord  in  the  place,  Handel  playing 
the  organs  and  Mattheson  the  harpsichords.  They 
also  listened  with  deep  respect  to  Buxtehude  at  the 
Marienkirche.  It  was  a  condition  of  the  succession 
of  Buxtehude  that  the  person  accepting  the  appoint- 
ment should  also  marry  the  daughter  of  the  retiring 
organist.  Mattheson  and  Handel  did  not  desire  this 
honour,  which  was  afterward  bestowed  upon  Johann 
Christian  Schieferdecker  in  1707,  when  Buxtehude 
died. 

In  this  year  Handel  paid  a  short   visit   to  Rome, 


66  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

but  in  the  meantime  he  had  been  busy  producing 
operas  and  other  works,  but  desiring  to  learn  more 
about  the  use  of  the  voice,  he  decided  to  study  it  at 
the  home  of  the  bel  canto.  After  a  short  stay  in 
Rome,  he  went  to  Florence,  and  thence  to  Venice, 
where  he  remained  three  months,  and  returned  to 
Rome  in  March,  1708.  In  Rome  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Alessandro  and  Domenico  Scarlatti, 
and  at  the  wish  of  Cardinal  Ottoboni  entered  into  a 
friendly  contest  with  Domenico  for  the  purpose  of 
deciding  their  respective  merits  on  the  organ  and 
harpsichord.  The  verdict  was  that  they  were  equally 
proficient  upon  the  harpsichord,  but  that  on  the 
organ  Handel  had  a  very  decided  advantage.  Ever 
afterward,  when  Scarlatti  was  complimented  upon  his 
organ-playing,  he  would  cross  himself  and  say,  "  But 
you  should  hear  Handel." 

In  July,  1708,  Handel  left  Rome  for  Naples,  and 
afterward  revisited  several  of  the  cities,  finally  leav- 
ing Italy  about  the  summer  of  17 10,  and  after  visit- 
ing Hanover  and  Dusseldorf,  made  his  way  through 
Holland  to  London.  At  Hanover  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed chapel-master  with  free  leave  of  absence,  for 
the  purpose  of  completing  his  travels. 

In  London  Handel  soon  made  many  friends,  and 
became  on  intimate  terms  with  Thomas  Britton, 
commonly  known  as  the  "small  coal  man,"  who,  pur- 
suing the  avocation  of  a  coal  peddler  by  day,  became 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  6y 

a  musical  amateur  at  night,  and  drew  about  him,  in 
order  to  hear  intellectual  conversation,  and  the  best 
chamber-music  that  London  could  produce,  a  most 
brilliant  circle.  Here  Handel  used  to  play  upon  the 
harpsichord,  and  upon  a  small  organ  of  five  stops. 
Matthew  Dubourg,  one  of  the  best  violinists  of  the 
age,  made  his  first  appearance,  as  a  child,  at  these 
gatherings.  Doctor  Pepusch,  John  Bannister,  and 
many  others  whose  names  became  celebrated  in  the 
world  of  music,  were  frequent  visitors. 

Handel  returned  to  Hanover  to  resume  his  duties 
as  chapel-master,  but  in  17 12  again  obtained  leave 
of  absence,  and  hurried  off  once  more  to  London, 
where  he  was  soon  absorbed  in  the  production  of 
operas.  In  this  sketch  we  have  refrained  from  any 
digression  from  the  subject  in  hand,  and  while 
Handel's  life,  not  only  in  England  but  in  Hamburg 
and  in  Italy,  was  largely  devoted  to  operatic  works, 
we  must,  interesting  as  these  may  be,  confine  our 
story  to  the  part  of  his  life  when  he  devoted  himself 
more  completely  to  the  music  of  the  church. 

Having  taken  up  his  abode  permanently  in  England, 
as  a  naturalised  English  subject,  Handel  turned  his 
genius  toward  a  style  of  composition  which  appealed 
to  the  people  of  his  adopted  land,  and  founded  the 
school  of  English  oratorio,  a  style  of  which  the  first 
indications  were  to  be  found  in  the  "Birthday  Ode" 
composed  in  honour  of  Queen  Anne.     The  keen  in- 


68  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

tercst  which  he  exhibited  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and 
its  organ,  on  which  he  used  frequently  to  play, 
brought  him  into  frequent  touch  with  the  music  of 
Purcell,  which  represented  the  English  school  of 
church  music  in  the  highest  phase  of  development 
which  it  had  yet  reached,  and  from  this  point  he  led 
it  on  to  its  zenith.  The  "  Utrecht  Te  Deum,"  com- 
posed to  celebrate  the  peace  of  171 3,  is  generally 
regarded  as  Handel's  first  great  English  work.  It 
was  first  performed  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  July 
7,  1 71 3,  and  earned  the  composer  a  pension  of  two 
hundred  pounds  per  annum,  for  life.  During  the 
next  thirty  years  it  was  performed  at  St.  Paul's, 
alternately  with  Purcell 's  Te  Deum,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy,  until  in  1743  Handel's 
"Dettingen  Te  Deum"  caused  all  other  works  of 
the  kind  to  be  laid  aside. 

Handel's  first  oratorio  was  composed  during  his 
residence  at  Cannons,  the  house  of  the  Duke  of 
Chandos,  who,  having  retired  from  active  life  with  an 
enormous  fortune,  built  this  splendid  house  or  palace 
near  Edgware,  and  maintained  a  chapel,  with  a  nu- 
merous choir  and  a  band  of  instrumental  performers. 

The  duke's  first  musical  director  was  Doctor 
Pepusch,  on  whose  resignation  in  1718  Handel  was 
engaged.  This  engagement,  however,  lasted  only 
two  years,  and  in  1820  Handel  became  interested  in 
the   establishment    of   the    first  Royal  Academy  of 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  69 

Music,  an  operatic  enterprise  which  died  out   after 
some  ten  years  of  checkered  existence. 

Thus  it  was  not  until  1738  that  the  first  great 
oratorio,  "  Saul,"  was  produced.  But  it  is  our  pur- 
pose to  follow  the  development  of  the  organ  rather 
than  choral  music,  and  our  interest  must  here  be  lim- 
ited to  what  we  can  find  regarding  that  instrument 
in  this  connection.  We  are  told  that  Handel  made 
his  own  effective  organ-playing  a  prominent  feature 
in  the  instrumentation  of  the  oratorio,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  second  movement  stands  the  direction  organo 
ad  libitntn. 

When  the  "Messiah"  was  produced  in  Dublin, 
for  which  occasion  Handel  visited  that  city  and  re- 
mained there  for  some  months,  a  series  of  six  con- 
certs was  given,  with  such  success  that  a  second 
series  was  also  given,  and  at  these  concerts  Handel 
played  organ  concertos. 

A  very  interesting  question  which  comes  before  us 
in  connection  with  Handel's  organ-playing  in  Eng- 
land is  the  date  at  which  pedals  were  first  used  in 
that  country.  Although  they  had  been  used  in  Italy 
and  in  Germany  for  many  years,  there  is  no  definite 
date  of  their  introduction  into  England  until  the  year 
1790,  when  G.  P.  England  built  an  organ  for  St. 
James's  Church,  Clerkenwell,  which  had  "pedals  to 
play  by  the  feet."  But  it  seems  impossible  that  this 
could  have  been  the  first  pedal  organ  in  England,  for 


yo  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

in  Handel's  organ  concerto  in  B-flat,  written  in 
1740,  there  are  obbligato  passages  for  the  feet  em- 
bracing stretches  of  an  octave  and  a  half.  Through 
Mattheson  we  know  that  Handel  was  an  accom- 
plished pedal-player  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  and 
Doctor  Burney,  in  writing  of  him,  says  :  "  On  Han- 
del's first  arrival  in  England,  from  Greene's  great 
admiration  of  this  master's  manner  of  playing,  he 
had  sometimes  literally  condescended  to  become  his 
bellows-blower  when  he  went  to  St.  Paul's  to  play 
upon  that  organ,  for  the  exercise  it  afforded  him  in 
the  use  of  the  pedals.  Handel,  after  three  o'clock 
prayers,  used  frequently  to  get  himself  and  young 
Greene  locked  up  in  the  church  together  ;  and  in 
summer,  often  stripped  unto  his  shirt,  played  until 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  at  night."  In  1720  new  stops 
and  notes  were  added  to  the  organ  at  St.  Paul's,  and 
it  is  considered  probable  that  a  pedal  keyboard 
formed  part  of  the  addition.  On  this  organ  he 
played  before  the  Princesses  Anne  and  Caroline  in 
1724.  It  may  be  assumed,  then,  that  pedals  were 
first  used  in  England  early  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
A  glowing  description  of  Handel's  organ-playing  is 
given  by  Sir  John  Hawkins,  and  though  Handel  was 
not  the  regular  organist  of  any  church  after  his  so- 
journ at  Cannons,  he  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest 
organ-player  of  his  age,  excepting  J.  S.  Bach,  whom 
he  never  met.     The  opinion  of  Sir  John  Hawkins 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  7 1 

may,  therefore,  be  quoted  at  length  :  "  As  to  his  per- 
formance on  the  organ,  the  powers  of  speech  are  so 
hmited  that  it  is  almost  in  vain  to  attempt  to  describe 
it  otherwise  than  by  its  effects.  A  firm  and  delicate 
touch,  a  volant  finger,  and  a  ready  delivery  of  pas- 
sages the  most  difficult  are  the  praise  of  inferior 
artists  :  they  were  not  noticed  in  Handel,  whose  excel- 
lencies were  of  a  far  superior  kind,  and  his  amazing 
command  of  the  instrument,  the  fulness  of  his  har- 
mony, the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  his  style,  the  fer- 
tility of  his  invention  were  qualities  that  absorbed 
every  inferior  attainment.  When  he  gave  a  con- 
certo, his  method  in  general  was  to  introduce  it  with 
a  voluntary  movement  on  the  diapasons,  which  stole 
on  the  ear  in  a  slow  and  solemn  progression  ;  the 
harmony  close  wrought  and  as  full  as  could  possibly 
be  expressed ;  the  passages  constructed  with  stupen- 
dous art,  the  whole,  at  the  same  time,  being  perfectly 
intelligible,  and  having  the  appearance  of  great  sim- 
plicity. This  kind  of  prelude  was  succeeded  by  the 
concerto  itself,  which  he  executed  with  a  degree  of 
spirit  and  firmness  that  no  one  could  pretend  to 
equal.  Such,  in  general,  was  the  manner  of  his  per- 
formance ;  but  who  shall  describe  its  effects  upon  the 
enraptured  auditory  }  Silence,  the  truest  applause, 
succeeded  the  instant  that  he  addressed  himself  to  the 
instrument,  and  that  so  profound  that  it  checked  res- 
piration   and   seemed  to    controul  the   functions    of 


72  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

nature,  while  the  magic  of  his  touch  kept  the  atten- 
tion of  his  hearers  awake  only  to  those  enchanting 
sounds  to  which  it  gave  utterance." 

Handel's  contribution  to  organ  literature,  apart 
from  that  which  is  associated  with  his  magnificent 
oratorios,  includes  several  sets  of  concertos.  The 
first  set,  consisting  of  six  concertos  (seven  instru- 
mental parts),  published  in  1734.  The  second  set  of 
six  concertos  (two  with  seven  instrumental  parts), 
published  in  1741.  (The  instrumental  parts  to  these 
published  in  1760.)  The  third  set  of  six  concertos 
(seven  instrumental  parts),  published  in  1761,  and  a 
set  of  three  concertos  published  in  1797,  also  with 
seven  instrumental  parts.  The  autographs  of  the 
first  three  sets  are  preserved  at  Buckingham  Palace. 

Handel  will,  of  course,  always  be  judged  by  his 
magnificent  choral  works,  which  embody  the  whole 
of  his  genius,  while  his  organ  works  are  but  a  part, 
yet  his  influence  upon  organ  playing  and  composition 
in  England  was  strongly  marked  and  lasting.  His 
interest  in  the  noble  instrument  was  made  manifest 
in  many  ways,  of  which  one  of  the  most  character- 
istic was  his  gift  of  an  instrument  to  the  Foundling 
Hospital. 

Handel  had,  in  1749,  given  a  concert  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  music  for  the  benefit  of  this  worthy 
charity,  and  had  composed  an  anthem  for  the  occa- 
sion,   "Blessed    are  they   that    consider   the   poor." 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  ^^ 

This  concert  had  enriched  the  hospital  considerably, 
and  now  Handel,  having  been  made  a  governor  of 
the  hospital,  proceeded  to  present  the  institution 
with  an  organ,  for  its  chapel.  This  organ  was  of 
three  manuals,  twenty-one  stops,  and  sixteen  hundred 
and  twenty-three  pipes,  and  was  opened,  with  a  per- 
formance of  the  "Messiah,"  on  May  i,  1750,  when 
the  crush  for  seats  was  so  great  that  a  second  per- 
formance was  found  necessary.  But  the  matter  did 
not  rest  here,  for  Handel  repeated  the  performance 
annually  during  his  lifetime,  and  thus  increased  the 
funds  of  the  hospital  by  the  sum  of  nearly  seven 
thousand  pounds,  which  was  further  added  to  after 
his  death  by  those  who  continued  the  work  until 
more  than  ten  thousand  pounds  had  been  brought 
into  the  funds  of  the  hospital  by  this  one  work  alone. 
Handel  died  on  April  14,  1759,  and  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 


CHAPTER   V. 

JOHANN    SEBASTIAN    BACH 

The  Bach  family  filled  many  important  positions 
as  musicians  during  about  three  centuries.  Several 
of  them  were  organists,  prominent  in  their  day, 
though  like  all  other  organists,  overshadowed  by 
Johann  Sebastian  Bach,  the  greatest  organist  of  his 
age,  if  not  of  all  ages.  A  very  brief  sketch  of  the 
family  may  be  permitted. 

The  first  Bach  in  musical  history  was  Hans,  who 
lived  at  Wechmar,  near  Gotha,  and  who  is  mentioned 
as  Gemeinde-Vonmindscliaftsglied  there  in  1561. 

The  next  is  Veit,  probably  son  of  Hans,  born  about 
1550,  and  died  16 19.  He  was  a  baker  by  trade,  but 
played  the  cithara  for  pleasure. 

His  son  Veit,  born  about  1580,  became  a  musician 
and  a  carpet- weaver.  He  died  in  1626,  leaving  a 
large  family,  of  which  Johannes  became  organist  at 
Schweinfurt,  and,  after  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  set- 
tled at  Erfurt,  as  director  of  the  "  Raths-Musikanten  " 
and  later  as  organist  in  the  church.  He  died  in 
1673. 

74 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  75 

Johann  Christoph,  the  second  son  of  Hans,  was 
born  in  161 3,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  the  great 
Bach.  He  held  musical  appointments  at  Weimar, 
Prettin,  Erfurt,  and  Arnstadt,  and  died  at  the  latter 
place  in   1661. 

Heinrich,  the  third  son  of  Hans,  born  in  16 15,  be- 
came organist  at  Arnstadt,  where  he  died  in  1692, 
having  filled  his  post  for  more  than  half  a  century. 

Returning  to  Johannes  of  Erfurt,  —  his  sons,  Job. 
Christian,  born  in  1640,  and  Job.  Aegidius,  born  in 
1645,  were  both  musical,  and  the  latter  became  the 
father  of  Joh.  Bernhard  (1676-1749),  who  was  organ- 
ist at  Erfurt,  Magdeburg,  and  Eisenach,  and  of  Joh. 
Christoph  (1685-17 17)  who  succeeded  to  the  post 
of  his  father.  Johann  Ernst  (i 722-1 777)  was  the 
son  of  Joh.  Bernhard  of  Eisenach,  and  became  a 
lawyer,  though  he  was  also  chapel-master  at  the 
court   of  Weimar. 

The  sons  of  Johann  Christoph  of  Erfurt  and  Arn- 
stadt were,  Georg  Christoph  (1642-97),  cantor  at 
Themar,  and  later  at  Schweinfurt,  where  he  died  ; 
Joh.  Christoph  and  Joh.  Ambrosius,  twins,  born  in 
1645.  Johann  Christoph  went  to  Arnstadt  as  "  Hof- 
musikus,"  or  court  musician  to  the  Count  of  Schwarz- 
burg.  He  died  in  1693,  and  his  sons  did  not  carry 
on  the  musical  tradition  of  the  family.  Ambrosius 
was  a  violinist  and  became  the  father  of  many  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Johann  Christoph  and  Johann  Sebas- 


^6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

tian  were  musical,  Johann  Christoph  (i 67 i-i 721) 
was  a  pupil  of  Pachelbel  at  Erfurt,  and  became 
organist  of  Ohrdruff.  To  his  brother  Sebastian  we 
will  return  later. 

Returning  to  Heinrich  Bach  of  Arnstadt,  we  have 
his  sons,  Johann  Michael  (1648-94)  and  Johann 
Christoph  (1643- 1703). 

Johann  Christoph  was  the  most  famous  of  the 
generations  preceding  the  great  J.  Sebastian,  He 
became  organist  to  the  church  at  Eisenach  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three,  and  later  became  court  organist. 
He  died  at  Eisenach,  His  son  Johann  Nicolaus 
(1 699-1 75 3)  became  organist  of  the  town  and  uni- 
versity of  Jena,  and  died  there.  He  was  also  a 
manufacturer  of  pianos.  His  children  did  not  sur- 
vive him,  so  that  his  branch  of  the  family  died  with 
him. 

Johann  Michael  was  appointed,  in  1673,  organist  at 
Gehren,  where  he  died  in  1694  in  the  prime  of  life. 
Of  his  six  children,  the  youngest  daughter,  Maria 
Barbara,  became  the  first  wife  of  Johann  Sebastian, 
and  died  in  1720.  He  also  was  a  manufacturer  of 
musical  instruments. 

In  Johann  Sebastian  centres  the  progressive  de- 
velopment of  the  race  of  Bach,  which  had  been 
advancing  for  years.  With  him  the  vital  forces  of 
the  race  exhausted  themselves,  and  further  power 
of  development  stopped.     Born  in  1685,  he  was  left 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  // 

fatherless  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  became  a  charge 
upon  his  elder  brother,  Johann  Christoph,  who  was 
organist  at  Ohrdruff,  Five  years  later  he  entered 
the  Michaelis  school  at  Luneburg,  where  his  voice 
earned  for  him  a  free  education.  In  his  holidays 
he  made  frequent  expeditions  to  Hamburg,  on  foot, 
in  order  to  hear  Reinken.  He  was  appointed  or- 
ganist of  the  new  church  at  Arnstadt  in  1703.  He 
had,  after  being  three  years  at  Luneburg,  been  ap- 
pointed "  Hof-musikus "  at  Weimar,  and  while  at 
Weimar  had  visited  Arnstadt  and  played  upon  the 
organ,  and  visited  his  relations.  The  result  was 
that  Bach  was  offered  the  position  of  organist,  and 
installed  with  all  due  ceremony. 

His  organ  contained  two  manuals  and  pedals,  and 
twenty-four  stops.  After  two  years  of  untiring  work 
at  Arnstadt,  Bach  was  moved  by  a  desire  to  hear  the 
celebrated  organist  Buxtehude,  for  he  was  unable  to 
learn  anything  from  musicians  in  his  own  neighbour- 
hood. He  therefore  sought  a  month's  leave  of 
absence,  and  set  out  for  Liibeck  on  foot,  —  a  dis- 
tance of  some  fifty  miles, — and  in  due  course  Bach 
found  himself  standing  before .  the  organ  which 
Handel  had  played  upon  two  years  previously,  when 
in  Liibeck  upon  a  somewhat  similar  errand. 

Even  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  Bach  played 
the  organ  as  a  candidate  for  the  position  at  Arnstadt, 
he  made  a  deep  impression,  and  the  authorities  felt 


yS  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

bound  to  make  a  special  effort  on  his  behalf,  and 
now  when  he  sought  Buxtehude  his  talent  proved 
to  be  his  best  introduction. 

Bach  apparently  forgot  all  about  the  limitations  of 
his  leave  of  absence,  and  remained  three  months  under 
the  influence  of  Buxtehude,  so  that  on  his  return  he 
vi^as  called  to  account  by  the  Consistory.  Besides 
this  the  clerical  authorities  at  Arnstadt  became  dis- 
satisfied with  his  manner  of  playing  the  service,  for 
he  had  adopted  a  habit  of  indulging  in  ornamenta- 
tions and  digressions  of  a  new  and  bold  kind,  even 
during  the  singing.  So  far  did  he  go  at  times  that 
the  congregation  did  not  know  what  they  were  listen- 
ing to,  and  frequently  got  into  complete  confusion. 
Thus  he  completely  alienated  his  choir,  which  was 
none  too  good  for  him.  When  requested  to  curtail 
his  free  preludes  before  the  hymns,  he  contracted 
them  to  such  a  degree  as  to  give  general  offence. 
The  result  was  that  his  duties  as  organist  became 
irksome  and  he  devoted  himself  more  than  ever  to 
the  work  of  production.  And  now  the  "  eternal 
feminine"  puts  in  an  appearance,  for  Bach  is  remon- 
strated with  on  account  of  a  "  strange  maiden  "  whom 
he  is  supposed  to  have  brought  into  the  church  and 
made  music  with,  contrary  to  the  traditions  of  the 
church. 

His  marriage  in  the  following  year  to  Maria 
Barbara,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Michael  Bach,  of 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  79 

Gehren,  perhaps  justifies  the  accusation.  This  wife 
became  the  mother  of  Bach's  most  illustrious  sons, 
—  W.  Friedemann,  C.  P.  Emanuel,  Joh.  Ch.  Fried- 
rich,  and  Joh.  Christian.  His  marriage  took  place 
in  the  year  1707,  and  may  have  been  prompted  by  a 
feeling  of  independence  caused  by  the  numerous 
offers  made  to  him  of  positions  as  organist  in  differ- 
ent places. 

At  Easter,  1707,  he  was  successful  in  a  trial  per- 
formance in  the  church  of  St.  Blasius,  at  Miihl- 
hausen,  a  position  of  greater  honour,  if  not  of 
greater  emolument,  than  that  at  Arnstadt,  and  on 
October  17  the  wedding  took  place  and  Bach 
brought  his  bride  to  Muhlhausen.  But  theological 
disputes  in  the  church  made  his  position  at  Miihl- 
hausen  uncomfortable,  and  it  was  with  much  satis- 
faction that  he  received  the  appointment  of  court 
organist  at  Weimar.  His  fame  now  soon  spread 
throughout  North  and  Central  Germany,  and  he  made 
many  excursions  from  Weimar  for  artistic  purposes, 
for  he  had  by  this  time  acquired  unlimited  mastery 
over  the  mighty  instrument. 

It  was  his  habit  to  make  visits,  in  the  autumn  of 
every  year,  to  some  of  the  larger  towns  in  the  vicin- 
ity, and  to  conduct,  in  person,  performances  of  his 
own  cantatas.  In  this  way  he  visited  Cassel,  where 
he  played  before  the  crown  prince,  and  so  filled  him 
with  astonishment  and  admiration  by  his  marvellous 


8o  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

execution  of  a  pedal  solo  that  the  prince  drew  from 
his  finger  a  ring  set  with  precious  stones  and  pre- 
sented it  to  the  master.  "  His  feet  flew  over  the 
pedal-board  as  if  they  had  wings,  and  the  ponderous 
and  ominous  tones  pierced  the  ear  of  the  hearer  like 
a  flash  of  lightning  or  a  clap  of  thunder ;  and  if  the 
skill  of  his  feet  alone  earned  him  such  a  gift,  what 
would  the  prince  have  given  him  if  he  had  used  his 
hands  as  well  ? " 

In  the  autumn  of  17 13  he  went  to  Halle,  where 
he  performed  with  great  success  upon  the  new  organ, 
which  had  sixty-three  stops.  The  position  of  organ- 
ist was  offered  to  him,  but,  as  the  terms  were  not  to 
his  liking,  he  declined  the  honour. 

In  1 714  he  visited  Leipzig  for  the  first  time,  and 
played  at  the  St.  Thomas  or  the  St.  Nicholas  Church 
on  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent,  and  conducted  a  per- 
foramance  of  his  cantata,  "Nun  komm,  der  Heiden 
Heiland." 

In  1 71 7  he  visited  Dresden,  where  he  met  Jean 
Louis  Marchand,  the  celebrated  French  organist,  who, 
being  under  the  ban  of  the  king's  displeasure,  had 
sought  refuge  at  Dresden,  and  was  much  admired. 
Discussions  becoming  rife  as  to  their  respective 
merits,  Bach  was  induced  by  his  friends  to  chal- 
lenge the  vain  and  arrogant  Marchand  to  a  trial 
of  skill.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  the  arrange- 
ments   made.    Bach  and  the  umpires  were  ready  at 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  8  I 

the  appointed  hour,  but  Marchand's  courage  had 
failed  and  he  had  left  Dresden  that  morning  by  the 
fast  coach. 

On  his  return  from  Dresden,  Bach  was  engaged 
by  the  Prince  Leopold  of  Anhalt-Cothen  as  chapel- 
master  at  Cothen.  His  life  at  Weimar  was  the  most 
productive  of  organ  music,  for  he  was  indefatigable 
in  composing  fugues  and  works  of  a  kindred  nature. 
For  his  pupils  he  produced  the  "  Little  Organ-Book, 
in  which  it  is  given  to  the  beginning  organist  to  per- 
form chorales,  in  every  kind  of  way,  and  to  perfect 
himself  in  the  study  of  the  pedal,  inasmuch  as  in  the 
chorales  to  be  found  in  it  the  pedal  is  treated  quite 
as  obbligato!' 

At  Cothen,  on  the  other  hand,  Bach  had  no  church 
duties,  and  his  life  was  devoted  to  chamber-music, 
but.  his  journeys  to  other  towns  were  kept  up.  In 
1 71 7  he  went  to  Leipzig  to  examine  the  new  organ 
in  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  in  1719  he  went  to  Halle, 
where  he  endeavoured  to  meet  Handel,  who  had 
visited  his  family  for  a  short  time  after  securing 
singers  for  his  opera-house  in  England.  Unfortu- 
nately Bach  arrived  just  too  late,  for  Handel  had  set 
out  for  England  that  same  day.  Ten  years  later 
these  two  great  organists  narrowly  missed  meeting 
again,  and  on  that  occasion  it  was  Bach  who  was 
prevented  by  illness  from  travelling,  so  sent  his 
eldest  son  from  Leipzig  to  Halle  with  an  invitation 


82  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

to  Handel,  —  but  Handel's  time  was  then  too  limited 
and  the  meeting  never  occurred. 

In  May,  1720,  Bach  returned  to  Cothen  after  one 
of  his  journeys,  and  was  met  with  the  distressing 
news  that  his  wife  was  dead  and  had  been  buried  on 
the  seventh  day  of  that  month.  In  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year  he  went  again  to  Hamburg,  where 
Reinken  was  still  living  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven. 
On  hearing  Bach's  improvisation  on  "An  Wasser- 
fiiissen  Babylon "  in  the  St.  Katharine's  Church, 
Reinken  came  to  him  and  said,  "  I  thought  this  art 
was  dead,  but  I  perceive  that  it  still  lives  in  you." 
Reinken  invited  Bach  to  visit  him,  and  treated  him 
with  marked  attention. 

The  organist  of  St.  James's  Church,  Heinrich 
Friese,  had  died  shortly  before  Bach  reached  Ham- 
burg, and  Bach  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for 
the  vacant  position,  but  could  not  remain  at  Ham- 
burg long  enough  to  submit  to  the  necessary  tests. 
It  appears  that  he  was  asked  whether  he  would 
accept  the  place  without  passing  any  examination. 
He  did  not  decline,  but  the  committee  elected 
another  man,  —  Johann  J.  Heitmann,  who,  while  un- 
known in  his  art,  had  promised  to  pay  to  the  church 
four  thousand  marks  in  acknowledgment  of  having 
been  elected. 

On  December  3,  1721,  Bach  married  a  second 
wife,   Anna    Magdalena   Wiilken,    twenty-one   years 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  83 

of  age,  the  daughter  of  the  court  trumpeter.  She 
was  extremely  musical,  and  took  part  in  her  hus- 
band's labours,  to  his  great  satisfaction,  and  bore 
him  six  sons  and  seven  daughters. 

In  1723  Bach  accepted  a  call  to  the  St.  Thomas 
Schule,  Leipzig,  as  cantor,  for  since  the  marriage  of 
the  prince  his  interest  in  music  had  fallen  off,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  felt  the  necessity  of  a 
wider  field  than  that  offered  by  the  court  at  Cothen. 
"  Das  wohl  temperirte  Clavier "  was  one  of  the 
results  of  his  work  at  Cothen,  the  greater  part 
of  them  having  been  written  during  that  period. 

At  Leipzig  Bach's  duties,  besides  those  in  the 
school,  included  the  direction  of  the  music  in 
the  churches  of  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Nicholas.  On 
ordinary  Sundays  a  cantata  and  a  motet  were  per- 
formed in  only  one  of  the  churches,  each  in  turn  ; 
the  first  choir  sung  the  cantata  under  the  leading  of 
the  cantor.  But  on  the  two  first  days  of  each  of  the 
great  festivals,  and  at  the  New  Year,  Epiphany, 
Ascension  Day,  and  Trinity  Sunday,  and  on  the 
festival  of  the  Annunciation,  concerted  music  was 
performed  twice  a  day,  and  in  both  churches  at 
once,  the  plan  being  that  the  first  choir  sang  at 
St.  Thomas's  in  the  afternoon  the  same  cantata  that 
it  had  performed  in  the  morning  at  St.  Nicholas's, 
and  on  the  next  holy  day  following  sang  at  St. 
Thomas's  in  the  morning  and  St.  Nicholas's  in  the 


84  THE    ORGAN  A. YD   ITS  MASTERS 

afternoon,  the  second  choir  taking  the  reverse  order. 
The  second  choir  sang  under  the  conduct  of  its  pre- 
fect. The  rehearsals  of  the  Sunday  music  took  place 
in  the  church  regularly  on  Saturday  after  two  o'clock 
vespers,  and  lasted  till  four  o'clock.  The  direction 
and  performance  of  music  for  wedding  festivals  and 
funeral  processions  were  also  regarded  as  part  of  the 
cantor's  official  church  duties. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  Bach  had  an  easy 
time  at  Leipzig,  or  that  he  was  free  from  criticism. 
The  great  work  which  he  accomplished,  regarded 
from  a  distance  of  more  than  a  century  and  a  half, 
might  easily  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  way  was 
made  clear  and  easy  for  him,  but  he  found  in  Leipzig 
that  the  choir  had  fallen  into  such  a  wretched  con- 
dition that  some  very  decisive  steps  were  necessary, 
if  the  music  were  to  be  carried  on  at  all  in  the  way 
that  had  become  traditional.  He  therefore  forwarded 
to  the  council  a  statement  of  the  existing  conditions, 
together  with  his  views  on  the  indispensable  constitu- 
ents of  the  various  choirs. 

Some  slight  attention  was  paid  to  his  requests,  but 
in  spite  of  the  lethargy  of  the  authorities,  he  was  able 
to  conduct,  for  the  first  time,  a  performance  of  the 
"  Passion  Music  "  according  to  St.  Matthew  in  the 
Holy  Week  of  1729. 

Bach  was  accused  of  neglect  of  his  duties  ;  he  was 
required    to    hold    his    classes    more    regularly ;    he 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  8$ 

was  declared  to  be  "incorrigible,"  and  it  was  stated 
that  he  "did  nothing,"  a  startling  accusation,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that,  during  the  seven  years  that  he  had 
been  cantor,  he  had  not  only  produced  the  "  St.  Mat- 
thew Passion  Music,"  in  itself  a  monumental  work, 
but  had  composed  and  performed  a  series  of  cantatas 
which,  to  any  other  musician,  would  have  represented 
the  labours  of  half  a  lifetime.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  Jubilee  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  25th, 
26th,  and  27th  of  June,  Bach  had  produced  and  con- 
ducted three  grand  cantatas,  and  this  took  place  but 
a  few  weeks  before  the  startling  accusation  that  he 
"did  nothing"  was  brought  against  him.  It  was 
resolved  to  sequestrate  his  income,  and  he  was  sub- 
jected to  many  petty  indignities. 

Goaded  by  these  troubles,  Bach  sought  a  position 
in  Russia.  His  own  words  to  his  old  acquaintance, 
Erdmann,  who  had  been  appointed  agent  for  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  in  Dantzig,  describes  the  situa- 
tion :  "I  find  that  (i)  this  appointment  is  by  no 
means  so  advantageous  as  it  was  described  to  me ; 

(2)  that  many  fees  incidental  to  it  are  now  stopped ; 

(3)  that  the  town  is  very  dear  to  live  in ;  (4)  that  the 
authorities  are  very  strange  folks,  with  small  love  for 
music,  so  that  I  live  under  almost  constant  vexation, 
jealousy,  and  persecution.  I  feel  compelled  to  seek, 
with  God's  assistance,  my  fortune  elsewhere." 

No  new  field  opened  for  Bach,  and  he  remained 


86  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

at  Leipzig.  By  and  by  the  conditions  became  some- 
what ameliorated,  and  Leipzig  remained  his  home 
until  the  day  of  his  death.  At  Leipzig  his  greatest 
work  was  accomplished.  Most  of  the  great  choral 
works  were  written  and  produced  during  the  Leipzig 
period  of  Bach's  life.  His  cantatas  number  about 
three  hundred  and  eighty,  besides  which  there  are  the 
various  settings  of  the  "  Passion,"  the  '•  Christmas 
Oratorio,"  and  many  smaller  works. 

After  twenty-three  years  as  cantor  at  Leipzig,  his 
life  ended  in  1750,  but  not  until  he  had  already  lost 
his  sight,  and  in  other  ways  had  begun  to  feel  the 
infirmities  of  age. 

An  interesting  account  is  given  of  the  organs  in 
the  churches  at  Leipzig  in  use  in  the  time  of  Bach, 
a  brief  summary  of  which  may  be  given  here. 

There  were  two  organs  in  the  St.  Thomas  Church. 
The  larger  had  been  placed  there  in  1525,  having 
been  previously  in  the  Marien  Church  of  the  monks 
of  St.  Anthony  at  Eiche,  not  far  from  Leipzig,  It 
was  twice  repaired  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
in  1670  was  also  enlarged.  In  the  year  1721  it  was 
again  renovated,  and  some  four  hundred  new  pipes 
and  the  mixture-stops  added  by  Johann  Scheibe. 
Again  in  1730  and  in  1747  this  organ  was  repaired. 
It  contained  three  manuals  and  thirty-six  stops. 

The  other  organ  was  the  smaller  and  the  older, 
having  been  originally  built  in  1489.     In  1638  it  was 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  8/ 

taken  from  its  original  position,  and  removed  to  a  new- 
gallery,  opposite  to  the  large  oi'gan.  At  Easter, 
1639,  it  was  played  in  this  place  for  the  first  time, 
and  remained  there  until  the  tim.e  of  Bach.  In  1727 
it  was  again  repaired,  but  was  of  little  use,  and  in 
1740  it  was  removed  by  Scheibe,  who  used  parts  of 
it  for  building  the  organ  in  St.  John's  Church.  This 
small  organ  contained  three  manuals  and  pedals,  and 
twenty-one  stops.  It  was  kept  only  for  high  festivals, 
when  two  choirs  and  two  organs  were  frequently 
used. 

The  organ  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Church  was  built 
about  1597,  and  the  last  repairs,  before  the  time  of 
Bach,  had  been  made  in  1698,  when  it  contained 
three  manuals  and  pedal  keyboard  and  thirty-six 
stops.  It  was  again  repaired  in  1725  by  Scheibe, 
and  in  1750  by  Hildebrand. 

In  contrast  to  these  old  organs,  which  were  of 
moderate  capacity,  and  liable  to  get  out  of  order 
frequently,  was  the  organ  in  the  University  Church, 
which  Bach  chiefly  used  when  playing  for  his  own 
pleasure  or  before  other  people.  This  organ  was 
built  in  1 716,  and  fulfilled  the  highest  expectations. 
It  contained  three  manuals  and  pedal  keyboard,  and 
fifty-three  stops.  By  a  new  invention  six  stops  in 
the  pedal  organ  were  brought  into  connection  with 
the  great  bellows  of  the  manuals.  This  organ  was 
built  by  Scheide,  and  made  his  reputation. 


88  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

It  is  not  exactly  known  at  what  period  the  playing 
of  voluntaries  came  into  vogue,  but  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  customary  at  Leipzig  in  the  time  of 
Bach.  The  prelude  was  used  in  order  to  prepare 
the  congregation  for  the  hymns  which  were  to  be 
sung,  and  was  formed  upon  the  melody  of  the  hymn. 
With  the  advancing  development  of  the  organ,  the 
custom  of  playing  a  concluding  voluntary,  in  which 
the  organist  could  exercise  his  talent  at  will  in  free 
fantasias  and  fugues,  became  more  and  more  general, 
but  there  is  little  mention  found  concerning  this 
practice. 

For  a  comparison  of  Bach  and  Handel  as  organ- 
ists we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from  Spitta's 
life  of  Bach,  in  which  the  subject  is  carefully  weighed 
from  the  best  evidence  obtainable.  Spitta  writes 
thus  : 

"  The  mention  of  Mattheson  brings  us  once  more 
to  a  comparison  and  contrast  of  Bach  and  Handel  — 
this  time,  however,  not  as  men,  but  as  organists. 
That  Bach  had  no  equal  in  Germany  in  playing  the 
organ  was  soon  an  admitted  fact ;  friends  and  foes 
alike  here  bowed  to  the  irresistible  force  of  an  un- 
heard-of power  of  execution,  and  could  hardly  com- 
prehend how  he  could  twist  his  fingers  and  his  feet 
so  strangely  and  so  nimbly,  and  spread  them  out  to 
make  the  widest  leaps  without  hitting  a  single  false 
note,  or   displacing   his  body   with   violent  swaying. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  89 

But  from  England,  on  the  other  hand,  Handel's  grow- 
ing fame  had  reached  Germany,  not  only  as  a 
composer  of  opera  and  oratorio,  but  as  an  unapproach- 
able organ-player.  So  far  as  England  was  concerned, 
that  was  not  saying  too  much,  but  other  foreigners 
who  had  heard  him  there  brought  the  same  news, 
and  as  he  was  a  German,  the  comparison  with  Bach 
was  obvious,  while  Bach's  cantatas.  Passion  music, 
and  masses  were  scarcely  appreciated  in  the  contem- 
porary world  as  compared  with  Handel's  music.  The 
attempt  made  by  his  Leipzig  friend,  in  1729,  to  bring 
about  a  meeting  of  the  two  players  miscarried,  so 
opinions  and  assertions  could  spread  unchecked. 
Some  came  from  England  with  Handel's  praises,  but 
saying,  nevertheless,  that  there  was  but  one  Bach  in 
the  world,  and  that  no  one  could  compare  with  him ; 
others,  on  the  other  hand,  were  of  the  opinion  that 
Handel  played  more  touchingly  and  gracefully.  Bach 
with  more  art  and  inspiration,  and  it  was  always  the 
one  then  playing  who  at  the  moment  seemed  the 
greatest. 

"  In  one  thing  all  were  agreed :  that  if  there  was 
any  one  who  could  depose  Bach,  it  could  be  none  but 
Handel ;  as,  however,  the  names  of  those  who  formed 
this  judgment  have  remained  unknown,  and  we  are 
no  longer  able  to  determine  how  far  they  were  com- 
petent, it  may  be  considered  a  happy  accident  that 
Mattheson  heard  both  the  masters  and  recorded  his 


90  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

opinion.  Soon  after  the  transactions  of  1720,  he 
writes  that  among  the  younger  composers  he  had 
met  with  no  one  who  displayed  such  skill  in  double 
fugues  as  Handel,  whether  in  setting  them  or  extem- 
porising, as  he  had  heard  him  do,  with  great  admira- 
tion, a  hundred  times.  A  very  laudatory  general 
opinion  of  Bach  has  been  already  quoted ;  and  in 
a  remark  written  later  they  are  set  in  direct  com- 
parison, as  follows  :  '  Particularly,  no  one  can  easily 
surpass  Handel  in  organ-playing,  unless  it  were 
Bach,  of  Leipzig,  for  which  reason  these  two  are 
mentioned  first,  out  of  their  alphabetical  order.  I 
have  heard  them  in  the  prime  of  their  powers,  and 
have  often  competed  with  the  former,  both  in  Ham- 
burg and  Liibeck.'  It  is  beyond  a  doubt  that 
Mattheson  was  quite  competent  to  pronounce  judg- 
ment in  such  a  case  ;  he  was  a  musician  of  incon- 
testably  sound  training.  But  I  regard  it  as  equally 
beyond  a  doubt  that  in  this  instance  his  informa- 
tion is  wholly  worthless.  Mattheson's  recollection  of 
Handel's  organ-playing  dated  from  the  days  of  their 
youth,  when  they  were  much  together  —  days  which, 
as  he  grew  older,  he  recalled  with  a  peculiar  pleas- 
ure. The  experience  is  universal  that  favourable 
judgments  cherished  in  youth  are  apt  to  persist,  in 
spite  of  our  progressive  development,  even  when 
the  subject  of  our  interest  is  never  again  within 
reach   for  the  verification  of  the  opinion  ;   and  this 


THE    ORGAiV  AND  ITS  MASTERS  91 

was    the   case   here.      Mattheson    had   never   heard 
Handel  play  since  1706.     Even  if  he  had,  his  deci- 
sion might  have  remained  the  same,  because  Handel's 
proclivities  as  an  artist  were  far  more  sympathetic 
than  Bach's  to  Mattheson,  who  had  grown  up  under 
the  influence  of  opera,  —  more  particularly  of  Reiser's 
opera,  —  and  who,   while    still   young,    had    become 
indifferent  to  organ  music.     And  this  sympathy  did 
not   cease  to  exist,  in  spite  of  Handel's  distant  be- 
haviour;  still,  it  is  an  error  to  assert  that  after  1720 
Mattheson  showed  a  warm  interest  in  Bach.     I  have 
already  stated  that  this  was    not   the  case,    and  a 
collation  of  the  passages  from  Mattheson's  writings, 
relating  to   Handel  and   Bach,    reveals  his  attitude 
very  clearly.     Finally,  it  is   of  some  importance  to 
note  that  vanity  would  prompt  him  to  set  Handel's 
importance  as  an  organist  as   high   as   possible,  for 
had  he  not  competed   with  him    in    Hamburg  and 
Liibeck }     The  notable  mode  of  expression  used  in 
the  sentence  quoted  —  not  free   from   partisanship, 
but  only  wavering  —  also  had  its  origin  in  the  want 
of  lucidity,  and  the  indecision  of  the  writer,  whose 
inclination  and  judgment  balanced  on  opposite  sides. 
All  attempts  to  explain  it  away  are  vain;  for  this 
purpose  he  is  useless. 

"We  may,  however,  accept  his  statements  about 
Handel  as  a  player  and  composer  of  double  fugues, 
for   there    is   at   any  rate  something    characteristic 


92  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

in  it  ;  but  this  brings  us  back  to  deciding  upon 
internal  grounds,  which  is,  in  fact,  what  we  must 
do  with  the  whole  question.  It  must  all  rest  on 
this  :  to  which  of  the  two  musicians  organ  music  was 
of  the  deepest  vital  significance.  Handel,  too,  had 
derived  his  first  training  from  a  German  organist, 
and  had  been  one  himself,  for  awhile,  in  his  youth  ; 
but  he  turned  toward  other  aims,  ending  at  last  by 
using  the  organ  as  a  musical  means,  one  among 
others  in  the  general  mass  of  instruments  he  em- 
ployed, but  merely  as  a  support,  or  to  introduce 
external  embellishments.  Bach  started  from  the 
organ,  and  remained  faithful  to  it  to  the  last  day  of 
his  life.  All  his  productions  in  other  departments  — 
or,  at  any  rate,  all  his  sacred  compositions  —  are 
merely  an  expansion  and  development  of  his  organ 
music ;  this  was  to  him  the  basis  of  all  creation,  the 
vivifying  soul  of  every  form  he  wrought  out.  Conse- 
quently in  this  he,  of  the  two  composers,  must  have 
been  capable  of  the  greatest  work  —  the  greatest, 
not  merely  in  technical  completeness,  but  also  in  the 
perfected  adaptation  of  its  purport  to  the  instrument. 
When  once  we  are  clear  as  to  this,  the  accounts 
handed  down  to  us  are  equally  clear,  and  leave  no 
doubt  in  our  minds  that  Handel's  organ-playing  was 
not,  properly  speaking,  characterised  by  style  in  the 
highest  sense,  —  was  not  that  which  is,  as  it  were, 
conceived  and  born  of  the  nature  of  the  instrument. 


GEORG    FRIEDRICH    HANDEL 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  93 

It  was  more  touching  and  grateful  than  Bach's  ;  but 
the  proper  function  of  the  organ  is  neither  to  touch 
nor  to  flatter  the  ear.  Handel  adapted  to  the  organ 
ideas  drawn  from  the  stores  of  his  vast  musical 
wealth,  which  included  all  the  art  of  his  time,  just 
as  he  did  to  any  other  instrument.  In  this  way  he 
evolved  an  exoteric  meaning,  intelligible  to  all,  and 
hence  the  popular  effect.  To  him  the  organ  was 
an  instrument  for  the  concert-room,  not  for  the 
church.  It  corresponds  to  this  conception  that  we 
have  no  compositions  by  Handel  for  the  organ  alone, 
while  it  was  precisely  by  these  that  Bach's  fame  was 
to  a  great  extent  kept  up  until  this  (nineteenth)  cen- 
tury ;  but  we  have  by  Handel  a  considerable  number 
of  organ  concertos  with  instrumental  accompaniment, 
and  adapted  with  brilliant  effect  to  chamber  music. 

<' His  fondness  for  the  double  fugue  —  an  older, 
simpler,  and  not  very  rich  form,  of  which,  however, 
the  materials  are  easier  to  grasp,  and  which  is  there- 
fore more  generally  intelligible  —  can  also  be  referred 
to  his  exceptional  attitude  toward  the  organ ;  and  so 
no  less  may  the  improvisatory  manner  which  was 
peculiar  to  his  playing  and  to  his  clavier  composi- 
tions, which  came  close  to  the  limits  of  organ  music  ; 
while  the  organ  —  which,  both  in  character  and  appli- 
cation, is  essentially  a  church  instrument  —  must  be 
handled  with  the  utmost  collectedness  of  mind  and 
an  absolute  suppression  of  tb-^  mnod  of  the  moment. 


94  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS   MASTERS 

It  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  Handel,  — 
whose  technical  skill  was  certainly  supreme,  —  with 
his  grand  flow  of  ideas,  and  his  skill  in  availing  himself 
of  every  quality  of  an  instrument,  produced  unheard-of 
effects  in  his  improvisations  on  the  organ.  But  even 
the  more  fervid  and  captivating  of  these  effects  must 
have  been  very  different  from  Bach's  sublimer  style. 
I  must  at  least  contravene  what  has  been  asserted 
by  an  otherwise  thoughtful  judge,  —  namely,  that 
he  was  surpassed  on  this  one  point,  —  taking  it  for 
granted  that  improvisation  is  to  be  criticised  by  its 
intrinsical  musical  worth,  and  not  merely  by  its  tran- 
sient and  immediate  effect.  At  a  time  when  so 
much  importance  was  attached  to  extempore  music, 
which  indeed,  as  an  exercise  in  thorough-bass,  was 
part  of  the  musical  curriculum  everywhere,  it  would 
have  been  most  strange  if  the  man  whose  whole 
being  as  an  artist  was  wrapped  up  in  the  organ,  and 
who  had  exhausted  its  powers  in  every  direction,  had 
not  risen  to  a  corresponding  height  in  this  point  also. 
The  express  testimony  of  his  sons  and  pupils  as  to 
his  'admirable  and  learned  manner  of  fanciful  play- 
ing '  —  i.  e.,  improvising  —  as  to  the  '  novelty,  singu- 
larity, expressiveness,  and  beauty  of  his  inspirations 
at  the  moment,  and  their  perfect  rendering,'  stands 
in  evidence.  'When  he  sat  down  to  the  organ,  irre- 
spective of  divine  service,  as  he  was  often  requested 
to  do  by  strangers,  he  would  choose  some  theme,  and 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  95 

play  it  in  every  form  of  organ  composition  in  such  a 
way  that  the  matter  remained  the  same,  even  when 
he  had  played  uninterruptedly  for  two  hours  or  more. 
First  he  would  use  the  theme  as  introductory,  and 
for  a  fugue  with  full  organ.  Then  he  would  show  his 
skill  in  varying  the  stops,  in  a  trio,  a  quartet  or 
what  not,  still  on  the  same  theme.  Then  would  fol- 
low a  chorale,  and  with  its  melody  the  first  theme 
would  again  appear  in  three  or  four  different  parts, 
and  in  the  most  various  and  intricate  development. 
Finally,  the  close  would  consist  of  a  fugue  for  full 
organ,  in  which  either  a  new  arrangement  of  the 
original  theme  was  predominant,  or  it  was  combined 
with  one  or  two  other  subjects,  according  to  its 
character.' 

"  So  far  as  concerns  the  other  aspects  of  organ 
music,  the  author  of  the  Necrology  might  with  justice 
appeal  to  Bach's  existing  compositions,  which  call 
into  requisition  the  highest  technical  means  in  order 
to  express  the  prof oundest  ideal  meaning  and  '  which 
he  himself,  as  is  well  known,  performed  to  the  utmost 
perfection,'  and  so  confirm  his  statement  that  *  Bach 
was  the  greatest  organ-player  that  has  yet  been 
known.'  " 

From  the  same  source  also  we  are  able  to  draw 
some  comparison  between  Handel  and  Bach  in  regard 
to  proportions  of  voices,  instruments,  and  organs  in 
the  performance  of  their  great  choral  works. 


96  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

During  the  sixteenth  century  vocal  music  in  Ger- 
many had  attained  greatness,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  each  part  was  often  sung  by  a  single  voice. 
These  insignificant  choruses  had  remained,  with  few 
exceptions,  in  use  throughout  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury and  far  into  the  eighteenth,  while  on  the  other 
hand  the  treatment  of  the  instruments  increased 
steadily  in  fulness  and  variety  of  colour,  so  that 
in  the  time  of  Bach  an  orchestra  of  weak  calibre  out- 
numbered the  singers  by  more  than  a  third.  Bach 
had  in  the  memorial  service  of  August  23,  1730, 
twelve  singers  and  eighteen  instrumentalists  besides 
the  organist. 

The  choir  with  which  Handel  performed  his  orato- 
rios in  England  was  numerically  smaller  than  his 
orchestra,  but  consisted  of  singers  of  greater  techni- 
cal ability  than  those  of  the  German  church  choirs, 
and  consequently  the  tone  was  much  fuller,  besides 
which  Handel  made  a  much  more  limited  use  of 
the  organ.  The  characteristic  feature  of  giving  the 
vocal  parts  more  importance  than  the  instruments  is 
very  prominent  with  him,  and  pervades  his  music  so 
strongly  that,  in  performances  of  oratorios  within  a 
few  years  of  his  death,  it  was  settled  in  England  that 
the  voices  were  to  outnumber  the  orchestra.  Han- 
del's oratorio  style  tended  toward  laying  a  stronger 
and  more  decisive  emphasis  on  the  vocal  factor, 
while    Bach's  chorus  admits   of  strengthening  addi- 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  97 

tions  only  within  narrowly  defined  limits,  and,  from 
the  first,  never  bore  an  indirect  ratio  to  the  instru- 
ments. 

"In  Bach's  church  music  the  ruling  or  dominant 
factor  is  not  the  chorus  or  the  voices  —  if  there 
be  any  such  factor  it  can  only  be  said  to  be  the 
organ,  or,  to  put  it  more  decisively,  the  body  of 
sound  used  in  performing  Bach's  church  music  is 
regarded  as  a  vast  organ,  of  which  the  stops  are 
much  more  refined  and  flexible,  and  have  the  indi- 
viduality of  speech. 

"  Handel  and  Bach,  the  fundamental  sources  of 
whose  genius  were  in  part  the  same,  had  arrived  at 
directly  opposite  results  in  this  as  in  many  other 
problems  of  art." 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  after 
the  death  of  Bach,  as  the  influence  of  the  Protestant 
Church  decreased,  the  spiritual  meaning  of  Bach's 
church  music  became  less  understood.  The  organ 
was  used  less,  and  a  more  secular  and  theatrical  style 
became  popular,  so  that  it  remained  for  Mendelssohn 
to  give  the  permanent  impetus  to  the  growing  admi- 
ration for  Bach  by  reviving  the  "  St.  Matthew  Pas- 
sion Music"  in  Berlin  on  March  12,  1829,  exactly 
one  hundred  years  after  its  production. 

Since  that  day  Bach  societies  have  been  formed 
without  number  in  all  musical  countries,  and  from  all 
musical  centres  is  accorded  the  worship  of  the  great 


98  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

musical  genius  which  was  but  grudgingly  given  dur- 
ing his  lifetime. 

In  Johann  Sebastian  Bach  culminated  the  genius 
of  his  family.  Those  of  his  sons  who  survived  him 
did  not  reach  the  greatness  of  their  father.  W. 
Friedemann,  called  the  Halle  Bach,  was  the  most 
gifted  of  the  sons,  and  was  considered  the  greatest 
organ-player  of  his  time.  But  he  sunk  into  dissolute 
habits,  and  died  in  1784  in  a  state  of  great  degrada- 
tion and  want. 

Carl  Philipp  Emanuel,  the  third  son  of  Sebastian, 
was  born  in  171 4,  and  was  brought  up  to  study  the 
law,  but  being  a  good  musician,  relinquished  the  law, 
and  in  1737  went  to  Berlin.  Some  nine  years  later 
he  became  accompanist  to  Frederick  the  Great.  In 
1757  he  went  to  Hamburg  and  took  the  direction  of 
the  music  in  one  of  the  churches  there.  He  suc- 
ceeded Telemann  in  1767,  and  held  his  post  until 
his  death  in  1788.  As  composer,  director,  teacher, 
and  critic  his  influence  was  great,  and  he  was 
much  respected  and  beloved,  for  he  had  pleasant 
manners,  literary  culture,  and  was  a  very  active  man 
in  music. 

Wilhelm  Friedrich  Ernst  was  a  son  of  Johann 
Christoph  Friedrich,  Sebastian's  ninth  son,  who  is 
known  as  the  Biickeburg  Bach,  an  upright,  modest, 
amiable  man.  Wilhelm  F.  E.,  after  a  sojourn  of 
some  years  in  London  with  his  uncle,  Joh.   Chris- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  C^C) 

tian,  settled  in  Minden,  but  was  called  to  Berlin  as 
cemballist  to  the  queen.     He  died  in  1845. 

Johann  Christian,  the  eleventh  son  of  Sebastian, 
went  to  Milan,  where,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  be- 
came organist  of  the  cathedral.  Wishing  to  devote 
himself  to  opera,  he  resigned  his  position  and  married 
Grassi,  the  prima  donna.  He  accepted  an  appoint- 
ment as  director  of  concerts  in  London,  where  he 
died  in  1782.  He  was  most  successful  as  a  pianist 
and  composer  for  the  pianoforte. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  CONTEMPORARIES  AND  PUPILS  OF  BACH 

It  is  now  necessary  to  go  back  a  few  years  and 
look  up  some  of  the  German  organists,  who,  a  few 
years  older  than  Bach,  were  more  or  less  connected 
with  him,  and  whose  lives  are  of  interest  for  that 
reason. 

One  of  these  was  Johann  Pachelbel,  who  was  born 
at  Nuremberg  in  1653,  and  whose  life  was  somewhat 
troubled  by  the  unsettled  political  conditions  of  the 
times.  Pachelbel,  on  completing  his  education,  be- 
came deputy  organist  at  the  cathedral  in  Vienna, 
after  which  he  secured  the  positions  of  organist  at 
Eisenach  in  1675,  Erfurt  in  1680,  and  Stuttgart 
1690.  From  1692  to  1695  he  was  at  Gotha,  when 
he  went  to  Nuremberg  as  organist  to  the  church  of 
St.  Sebaldus,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
days,  dying  in  1706. 

As  a  resident  of  the  two  chief  centres  of  the  Bach 
family,  he  had  ample  opportunity  to  meet  many  of 
its  members.  He  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the 
father  of  Sebastian,  who  chose  him  to  be  godfather 

100 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  10 1 

to  one  of  his  daughters  and  teacher  of  his  eldest 
son. 

At  a  time  when  Italy  and  South  Germany  had 
outstripped  North  Germany  in  the  art  of  organ 
music,  Pachelbel  carried  the  Southern  influence  into 
the  heart  of  Germany,  and  stood  above  all  his  con- 
temporaries as  a  writer.  Eight  choral  treatments 
by  him,  published  in  1693,  are  said  to  indicate  his 
highest  level  in  that  line. 

Pachelbel  exerted  a  large  influence  on  organ-play- 
ing and  composition.  Among  his  most  prominent 
pupils  were  J.  H.  Buttstedt  (i 666-1 727),  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  his  position  at  Erfurt,  and  who  was 
a  great  master  of  his  instrument  as  well  as  a  remark- 
able composer  of  organ  chorales  and  fugues  ;  Niko- 
laus  Vetter,  born  in  1666,  organist  at  Rudolstadt 
until  after  1730;  Andreas  Armstroff  {1670-1699) 
organist  at  Erfurt ;  Johann  Graff,  organist  of  Magde- 
burg (died  1709).  Of  the  following  generations, 
among  the  more  important  who  followed  in  his  steps 
were  George  Kauffmann  (1679-173 5)  ;  Gottfried 
Kirchoff  (1685-1746),  organist  at  Halle;  and  Johann 
Walther  of  Weimar  (i  684-1 748.) 

Johann  Kuhnau,  who  had  preceded  Bach  as  cantor 
at  Leipzig,  was  a  remarkable  musician  in  his  day. 
Born  in  1667  at  Geysing,  he  became  a  chorister  at 
Dresden,  where  he  received  good  musical  instruction. 
In  1684  he  became  organist  of  the  Thomaskirche  at 


I02  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

Leipzig,  and,  in  1701,  cantor  in  the  Thomas-Schule. 
His  talent  was  marked  by  phenomenal  versatility,  for 
he  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of  languages, 
mathematics,  and  jurisprudence,  and  was  an  in- 
genious writer  on  musical  subjects.  It  is  said  that 
previous  to  his  arrival  at  Leipzig  (which  was  at 
the  age  of  seventeen),  he  had  maintained  himself 
by  w^orking  in  the  school  at  Zittau,  and  lecturing  on 
French. 

In  practical  music  he  made  himself  famous  by 
being  the  first  to  transfer  the  chamber  sonata  to  the 
clavier.  Kuhnau  died  in  1722,  admired  and  honoured 
as  one  of  the  best  musicians  of  his  time. 

George  Philipp  Tclemann,  whose  name  frequently 
occurs  in  connection  with  Bach,  was  born  in  1681 
and  was  therefore  four  years  older  than  Bach.  He 
was  a  native  of  Magdeburg  and  the  son  of  a  clergy- 
man. His  musical  knowledge  was  gained  without 
any  regular  instruction,  but  by  diligently  studying 
the  scores  of  the  great  masters.  In  1 700  he  became 
a  student  at  the  University  of  Leipzig,  and  while 
carrying  on  his  studies  of  languages  and  science,  be- 
came organist  of  the  Neukirche  and  founded  a  society 
among  the  students  called  "  Collegium  Musicum." 
After  numerous  changes  from  one  post  to  another, 
he  became,  in  1721,  cantor  of  the  Johanneum,  and 
Musikdirektor  of  the  principal  church  in  Hamburg, 
remaining  there  until  his  death  in  i  "j^j. 


THE    ORGAN  AND    ITS  MASTERS  I03 

Telemann  was  a  highly  skilled  contrapuntist  and  a 
most  prolific  composer,  so  much  so  that  it  is  said  he 
could  not  reckon  up  his  own  compositions.  It  is 
said  that  the  shallowness  of  church  music  at  the 
latter  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  due  to  the 
influence  of  Telemann  ;  nevertheless  he  is  called  a 
prominent  representative  of  the  Hamburg  school  in 
its  prime  during  the  first  half  of  that  century. 

Johann  Gottfried  Walther  was  regarded  as  a 
second  Pachelbel,  and  in  his  arrangements  and  vari- 
ations of  chorales  on  the  organ  he  stood  second  to 
Bach  himself.  Walther  was  a  native  of  Erfurt,  and 
was  born  in  1684.  He  was  distantly  related  to 
Sebastian  Bach,  and  a  pupil  of  Johann  Bernhard 
Bach.  In  1707  he  became  organist  of  the  town 
church  at  Weimar,  where  he  remained  until  his  death 
in  1748. 

Walther's  name  in  the  world  of  music  is  noted  by 
his  "  Musical  Lexicon,"  pubhshed  at  Leipzig  in  1732, 
which  is  the  first  German  attempt  to  bring  the  whole 
mass  of  musical  information  into  the  dictionary  form. 
This  work  was  the  fruit  of  his  leisure  hours,  and  he 
died  while  still  occupied  in  trying  to  bring  it  to  per- 
fection. His  chief  occupation  was  practical  music  — 
playing,  teaching,  and  composition.  His  style  of 
playing  is  said  to  have  been  broad  and  solid,  a  con- 
clusion which  is  reached  from  a  study  of  such  of  his 
compositions  as  are  preserved,  a  number  of  which 


104  ^^^   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

are  for  the  organ  or  clavier.  His  chief  interest  was 
bestowed  upon  organ  chorales,  of  which  he  was  not 
only  a  prolific  arranger,  but  also  a  diligent  collector. 
Though  intimate  with  Sebastian  Bach  for  a  number 
of  years,  there  are  indications,  in  the  meagreness  of 
his  mention  of  Bach  in  his  "  Lexicon,"  that  the 
friendship  did  not  last. 

Johann  Tobias  Krebs  was  one  of  the  pupils  of 
Bach  who  became  eminent.  He  was  born  in  1690 
at  Heichelheim,  near  Weimar,  and  in  17 10  was 
organist  and  cantor  at  Buttelstadt.  He  was  at  first 
a  pupil  of  Walther's  in  playing  and  composition,  but 
continued  his  studies  under  Bach.  His  son,  Johann 
Ludvvig,  also  became  an  organist  of  the  first  rank,  and 
was  a  pupil  of  Bach  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  After 
nine  years'  study  under  Bach  he  became  organist 
successively  at  Zeitz,  Zwickau,  and  Altenburg,  where 
he  died  in  1 780. 

Johann  Caspar  Vogler,  born  at  Hausen,  near  Arn- 
stadt,  in  1696,  is  said  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Bach 
while  still  a  boy,  and  while  Bach  was  organist  at  the 
New  Church.  Later  he  went  to  the  musical  training 
school  at  Erlebach,  and  then  studied  under  Fetter, 
the  organist  at  Rudolstadt,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Bach  and  became  one  of  his  best  pupils.  In  171 5 
he  was  organist  at  Stadtilm,  but  on  the  death  of 
Schubart,  Bach's  first  pupil,  succeeded  him  at  Weimar, 
where  he  remained,  the  Duke  Ernest  August  giving 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I05 

him  the  title  of  vice-burgomaster  in  order  to  keep 
him  at  Weimar.     He  died  about  1765. 

Johann  Gotthilf  Ziegler,  born  at  Dresden  in  1688, 
was  for  a  time  under  Bach's  tuition,  for  organ-playing. 
Ziegler  Hved  at  Halle,  where  he  was  organist  of  the 
church  of  St.  Ulrich,  and  was  much  sought  after  as  a 
teacher.  He  declined  all  offers  of  honourable  em- 
ployment elsewhere.  It  is  said  that  his  talent  was 
early,  ripe,  versatile  and  restless,  and  in  addition  to 
music  he  also  studied  theology  and  jurisprudence. 

Bernhard  Bach,  organist  at  Ohrdruff,  who  has 
already  been  mentioned,  a  nephew  of  Sebastian,  was 
also  his  pupil,  and  it  is  probably  to  his  industry  that 
we  owe  a  valuable  manuscript  copy  of  Sebastian 
Bach's  compositions. 

Johann  Christian  Kittel,  a  native  of  Erfurt  (1732- 
1809),  was  one  of  the  last  of  Bach's  pupils,  for 
Bach  died  when  Kittel  was  but  eighteen  years  of  age. 
Kittel  became  organist  at  the  Predigerkirche  at 
Erfurt  in  1756,  but  his  pay  was  wretchedly  inade- 
quate, and  his  life  was  passed  in  poverty.  He  was 
obliged,  in  his  old  age,  to  make  a  tour  of  Gottingen, 
Hanover,  Hamburg,  and  Alrona,  after  which  he  re- 
turned to  Erfurt  and  was  kept  from  starvation  by  a 
small  pension  allowed  him  by  Prince  Primas  of  Dal- 
berg. 

Kittel  was  renowned  for  his  playing  rather  than 
for  his  compositions,  and  he  formed  many  excellent 


I06  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

pupils,  among  whom  was  Rinck,  who  inherited  his 
papers.  That  Kittel  was  a  devout  worshipper  of 
Bach  is  shown  by  the  stoiy,  generally  accepted  as 
true,  that  he  possessed  a  full-sized  portrait  of  Bach, 
which  he  kept  screened  by  a  curtain.  When  any  of 
his  pupils  had  merited  reward,  he  would  draw  back 
the  curtain  and  allow  them  to  look  at  the  portrait  as 
the  greatest  privilege  which  he  could  bestow  upon 
them. 

Jacob  Adlung,  born  at  Bindersleben,  Erfurt,  in 
1699,  was  theologian,  scholar,  and  musician,  and  was 
known  for  his  masterly  playing,  though  he  is  not 
regarded  as  a  musician  of  high  rank.  He  was  or- 
ganist of  the  Evangehcal  church  at  Erfurt,  and  died 
in  1762.  He  lost  his  house  and  all  his  possessions 
by  fire  in  1736,  but  by  his  energy  and  perseverance 
succeeded  in  overcoming  his  adverse  fortune  and  left 
several  works  of  lasting  value  in  musical  literature. 
In  his  youth  he  was  befriended  by  Nicolaus  Bach  at 
Jena,  who  sometimes  allowed  him  the  privilege  of 
playing  upon  his  organ. 

Another  prominent  organist  of  the  same  period 
was  Johann  Ernst  Eberlin,  born  at  Jettingen  in  1702. 
Little  is  known  of  his  early  education,  but  he  became 
court  organist  to  Archbishop  Franz  Anton,  Graf  von 
Harrach,  in  1727.  Of  his  compositions  for  the  organ 
the  best  known  are  "  IX  Toccate  e  fughe  per  I'or- 
gano,"  dedicated  to  Archbishop  Jacob  Ernst.      His 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  lO/ 

writings  were  numerous,  and  it  was  said  by  Marpurg 
that  he  wrote  as  much  and  as  rapidly  as  Scarlatti  and 
Telemann.     He  died  in  1762,  at  Salzburg. 

Heinrich  Nicolaus  Gerber,  born  in  1702,  was  the 
son    of  a   peasant,   and  went  to  the    University   of 
Leipzig,  where  he  came  under  the  influence  of  Bach, 
by  whom  his  love  of  music  was  encouraged  and  de- 
veloped.     He  became  organist  at  Heringen,  and  in 
1738  court  organist  at  Sondershausen,  where  he  died 
in  1775.     The  early  part  of  his  life  was  largely  spent 
in  escaping  from  the  recruiting  officers  of  Frederick 
William  I.,  and  not  until  he  was  installed  at  Sonders- 
hausen was  he  safe.       His  great  height  marked  him 
for  the  attention  of  the  officers.       He  composed  for 
organ  and  other  instruments,  and  made  musical  in- 
struments, and  for  many  years  was  court  secretary. 
His  son  Ernst  Ludwig  compiled  a  valuable  Lexicon 
of  Music. 

Johann  Georg  Albrechtsberger,  who  was  born  in 
1736  at  Klosterneuberg,  near  Vienna,  and  died  at 
Vienna,  in  1809,  ^^^  foJ"  a  long  time  an  important 
position  in  the  world  of  music,  for  he  was  teacher 
of  many  celebrated  musicians,  among  whom  may  be 
mentioned  Beethoven,  Hummel,  Weigl,  Seyfried, 
Eybler,  and  Mosel.  He  began  life  as  a  chorister 
in  his  native  town,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Molk, 
where  he  was  noticed  by  the  crown  prince,  who  after- 
ward became  the   Emperor   Joseph.      He  held  the 


I08  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

position  of  organist  at  Molk  for  twelve  years,  after 
which  he  was  organist  at  Raab  in  Hungary,  and  then 
at  Mariataferl,  from  which  place  he  went  to  Vienna 
to  take  the  position  of  Rcgens  Cltori  to  the  Carmel- 
ites. In  1772  he  was  appointed  court  organist,  and 
some  twenty  years  later  he  became  director  of  music 
at  St.  Stephen's,  where  he  entered  upon  his  career  as 
a  teacher. 

He  is  said  to  have  been  a  conscientious  and  pains- 
taking teacher,  but  in  Beethoven  he  found  a  pupil 
who,  apparently,  left  rather  a  painful  impression  on 
him,  for  he  said  to  an  inquiring  person,  "  Have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  him  ;  he  has  learnt  nothing,  and  will 
never  do  anything  in  decent  style,"  an  opinion  which 
has  not  been  fully  justified  by  events. 

Albrechtsberger's  compositions  are  computed  to 
have  numbered  two  hundred  and  sixty-one,  but  only 
twenty-seven  were  printed.  The  finest  of  these  is  a 
Te  Deum,  which  was  not  performed  until  after  his 
death. 

Justin  Henry  Knecht,  native  of  Biberach  (1752), 
had  a  great  reputation  in  his  day,  as  organist,  com- 
poser, and  theoretician.  He  was  well  educated  and 
held  for  a  time  the  position  of  professor  of  literature 
in  his  native  town.  From  this  he  drifted  by  degrees 
into  music,  and  became  director  of  opera  and  of  the 
court  concerts  at  Stuttgart,  which  positions  he  re- 
signed   after   a    couple   of    years,    and    returned    to 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  109 

Biberach,  where  he  died  in  18 17.  Knecht  was  soon 
forgotten,  but  one  is  reminded  of  him  by  the  fact 
that  he  composed  a  Pastoral  Symphony  on  a  scheme 
almost  identical  with  that  used  by  Beethoven  for  his 
immortal  "  Pastoral  Symphony  "  some  twenty  years 
later.  Apart  from  the  title,  no  comparison  of  the 
two  works  can  be  made. 

Joh.  Chr.  Ludwig  Abeille  was  a  native  of  Bay- 
reuth  and  became  court  organist  at  VVUrtemberg. 
He  received  a  gold  medal  at  the  completion  of  fifty 
years  of  faithful  service,  also  a  pension,  and  died 
shortly  after  at  the  age  of  seventy-one, 

August  Eberhardt  Miiller  was  organist  of  St. 
Nicholas  Church  at  Leipzig  from  1794  for  several 
years.  He  wa^  born  at  Nordheim  in  Hanover,  and 
was  the  son  of  an  organist.  He,  like  many  other 
musicians,  began  to  study  law,  but  gave  it  up  in 
favour  of  music,  and  in  1789  became  organist  of  the 
church  of  St.  Ulrich  in  Magdeburg.  In  1792  he 
became  director  of  the  concerts  in  Berlin,  and  two 
years  later  organist  at  Leipzig.  Miiller  ended  his 
days  at  Weimar  (18 17),  to  which  place  he  moved  in 
1 8 10.  He  was  equally  proficient  as  a  performer  on 
the  organ  and  harpsichord,  and  amongst  his  com- 
position are  suites  for  organ ;  a  sonata  and  chorale, 
with  variations. 

Joseph  Preindl  (i 758-1 823)  was  a  native  of  Mar- 
bach  on  the   Danube,  and   became  a    pupil   of  Al- 


no  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

brechtsberger  in  Vienna.  He  was  a  good  composer, 
a  skilled  pianist  and  organist,  and  a  teacher  of  sing- 
ing. His  compositions  include  masses,  smaller  church 
pieces,  and  pianoforte  and  organ  music.  Preindl  was 
appointed,  in  1790,  choirmaster  of  the  Petcrskirche, 
and  in  1809,  chapel-master  of  St.  Stephen's  in 
Vienna.  The  latter  post  he  held  until  his  death, 
when  his  pupil  Gansbacher  was  elected  to  succeed 
him. 

Johann  Gansbacher  was  a  native  of  Sterzing  in 
the  Tyrol  (i  778-1 844),  and  enjoyed  a  somewhat 
picturesque  life.  Beginning  as  a  chorister  in  his 
native  village,  where  his  father  was  organist  and 
choirmaster,  he  later  went  to  Innspruck,  Halle, 
and  Botzcn,  and  learned  the  organ,  piano,  cello,  and 
harmony.  In  1795  he  became  a  student  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Innspruck,  but  served  as  a  volunteer  in 
the  "  Landsturm,"  which  was  formed  in  the  following 
year.  In  1801,  after  having  won  the  gold  "  Tapf cr- 
keits-medaille,"  he  went  to  Vienna  and  studied  under 
Vogler  and  Albrechtsberger.  He  was  recommended 
as  a  teacher  by  Haydn,  Gyrowetz,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished persons,  and  was  associated  with  Weber 
and  Meyerbeer,  who  were  his  fellow  pupils  and 
lasting  friends.  With  Weber  he  went  to  Mannheim 
to  assist  him  in  his  concerts,  and  later  he  was  with 
Weber  in  Prague,  assisting  him  in  his  "Kampf  und 
S.'^j,"."     In  Vienna  he  became  acquainted  with  Bee- 


THE    ORGAN  AND    ITS  MASTERS  III 

thoven.  He  also  served  in  the  war  of  1813,  and 
went  to  Italy  as  a  captain  in  the  army.  Eventually, 
on  the  death  of  Preindl,  he  applied  for  the  position  of 
chapel-master  in  the  cathedral  at  Vienna,  and  was 
appointed,  and  held  that  post  until  his  death  in  1844. 
His  compositions  number  two  hundred  and  sixteen, 
of  which  a  large  number  are  sacred,  but  apparently 
none  are  for  organ  alone. 

One  of  the  names  most  familiar  to  all  organ  stu- 
dents is  that  of  Rinck.  Johann  Christian  Heinrich 
Rinck  was  a  native  of  Elgersburg  in  Saxe-Gotha 
(1770).  He  became  a  pupil  of  Kittel,  who  was  a 
pupil  of  Bach,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  accepted 
a  post  of  organist  at  Giessen  (in  the  duchy  of  Hesse), 
his  salary  being  fifty  florins,  about  twenty-one  dollars, 
per  annum.  His  life  after  this  time  was  strange. 
Unable  to  get  much  teaching,  in  addition  to  this  paltry 
pittance,  he  added  to  his  music  the  work  of  a  lawyer's 
copyist.  In  1792  he  became  usher  at  a  school ;  the 
following  year  he  was  promoted  to  the  situation  of 
writing-master  !  And,  in  1 803,  his  patience  was  re- 
warded with  the  post  of  music-master  at  the  College 
of  Giessen,  From  this  time  on,  he  was  insured 
against  poverty ;  and  gradually  rising,  became  court 
organist  at  Darmstadt  —  at  the  head  of  his  pro- 
fession, beloved  by  all,  and  in  the  highest  favour  of 
his  prince. 

Rinck  will  always  be  remembered  as  one  of  the 


112  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

great  players,  and  during  his  career  he  made  many 
artistic  tours  and  gained  many  high  honours,  such 
was  the  admiration  his  playing  elicited.  At  Treves, 
in  1827,  he  was  treated  with  great  honour;  in  183 1, 
he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Dutch  Society  for  the 
Encouragement  of  Music  ;  in  1838,  he  was  decorated 
by  the  Grand  Duke  Ludvvig  with  the  cross  of  the 
first  class  ;  in  1840,  he  was  made  Doctor  of  Philoso- 
phy and  Arts  by  the  University  of  Giessen.  A  grand 
fete  took  place  at  Darmstadt  also  in  honour  of 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  installation  as  court 
organist.  "It  was  a  beautiful  and  interesting  sight," 
writes  Mr.  Aspull,  "to  witness  the  homage  paid 
by  all  the  elite  of  the  town  to  this  noble,  good, 
and  worthy  old  man,  whose  modesty  is  only  excelled 
by  the  candour  of  his  expressions."  He  was  pre- 
sented on  this  occasion,  by  the  duke,  with  a  superb 
easy  chair,  a  portrait  of  his  Serene  Highness,  and  a 
tea-service  in  gold,  accompanied  by  an  autograph 
letter  as  hearty  as  the  recipient  was  worthy. 

Sir  Herbert  Oakley  says  of  him  :  "  His  reputation 
is  based  on  his  organ  music,  or  rather  his  'Practical 
Organ  School,'  a  standard  work.  Rinck's  composi- 
tions for  his  instrument  show  no  trace  of  such  sub- 
lime influence  as  might  be  expected  from  a  pupil,  in 
the  second  generation,  of  Bach  ;  indeed,  throughout 
them  fugue  writing  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 
But  without  attaining  the  high  standard  which  has 


JOHANN    CHRISTIAN    HEINRICH    RINCK 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  II3 

been  reached  by  living  composers  for  the  instrument 
in  Germany,  his  organ  pieces  contain  much  that  is 
interesting  to  an  organ  student,  and  never  degener- 
ate into  the  debased  and  flippant  style  of  the 
French  and  English  organ  music  so  prevalent  at 
present "  (1890). 

Rinck's  compositions  were  not  confined  to  his 
"Practical  Organ  School"  and  "Preludes  for  Cho- 
rales," which  are  his  best  known  works,  but  he  wrote 
a  good  deal  of  chamber  music,  and  some  church 
music,  including  twelve  chorales  for  men's  voices, 
two  motets,  and  a  Pater  Noster,  for  four  voices 
with  organ.  Altogether  his  works  number  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five. 

There  have  been  two  celebrated  organists  named 
Muffat.  The  first,  George,  was  a  Frenchman,  and 
studied  Lully's  style  in  Paris  for  six  years.  He  was, 
previous  to  1675,  organist  of  Strasburg  Cathedral ; 
he  then  visited  Vienna  and  Rome.  In  1690  he 
became  organist,  and,  five  years  later,  chapel-master 
and  master  of  the  pages  to  the  Bishop  of  Passau,  and 
died  there  in  1704.  Among  his  publications  was 
"Apparatus  Musico-organisticus," — twelve  toccatas, 
chaconne,  passacaglia,  —  which  was  of  importance  in 
the  development  of  organ-playing. 

August  Gottlieb  Muffat  was  born  about  1690, 
and  became  a  pupil  of  Fux.  He  became  a  distin- 
guished organist  and  a  composer  of  taste,  and  pub- 


114  ^-^-^    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

lished  for  the  organ  "  72  Versetten  oder  Fugen, 
sammt  12  Toccaten,  besonders  zum  Virchendienst 
bei  Choral-Aemtern  und  Vespern  dienlich." 

Muffat  became  in  17 17  court  and  chamber  organist 
to  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  and  the  Empress  Amalie 
Wilhelmine.  He  died  in  1770  at  Vienna,  but  had 
retired  on  a  pension  in  1764, 

It  is  advisable  now  to  take  a  glance  at  the  develop- 
ment of  organ  music,  and  for  this  purpose  nothing 
can  be  better  than  to  take  a  few  excerpts  from  the 
detailed  and  exhaustive  account  of  it  written  by 
Philip  Spitta.  "The  art  of  writing  for  the  organ," 
he  says,  "which  had  been  previously  confined  to  a 
mere  ornamental  transcription  of  vocal  compositions, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  put  forth 
the  early  buds  of  a  characteristic  blossoming,  with  the 
first  traces  of  a  style  peculiar  to  itself.  In  Italy 
Claudio  Merulo  found  in  the  toccata,  as  it  was  called, 
—  a  kind  of  composition  in  which  he  endeavoured  to 
give  full  play  to  the  wealth  of  the  tone  possessed  by 
the  organ,  by  alternating  combinations  of  brilliant 
running  passages  with  sostenuto  sequences  of  harmo- 
nies, —  a  form  which,  if  somewhat  erratic  and  fantas- 
tic, was  still  highly  capable  of  development.  The 
first  steps  were  taken  toward  the  development  of 
the  organ  fugue  in  the  canzone  of  Giov.  Gabrieli ; 
and  Sweelinck,  a  Dutchman,  gained  great  celebrity, 
it  would  seem,  particularly  by  his  elaboration  of  the 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  II5 

technique,  and  by  a  great  gift  for  teaching,  and 
endeavoured  to  make  the  heaviness  of  the  organ 
style  Hghter  and  more  pleasing  by  skilful  and  grace- 
ful handling.  Samuel  Scheldt,  the  organist  at  Halle, 
was  one  of  his  pupils.  In  his  *  Tablatura  Nova,'  he 
first  succeeded  in  treating  the  chorale  as  adapted 
to  the  organ  in  a  very  varied  manner,  and  with 
considerable  inventive  power.  ...  A  new  path  is 
opened  out,  and  abundant  means  are  brought  in 
to  level  it ;  but  the  practical  precision  and  arrange- 
ment are  lacking  which  would  give  the  full  value  to 
each  in  its  place.  In  the  course  of  the  century  a 
whole  series  of  well  defined,  and  in  themselves  logi- 
cal forms,  grew  up  for  treatment  of  chorales.  Only 
a  few  of  these  are  found  in  any  degree  pure  in 
Scheldt,  and  those  the  most  obvious  ;  among  them 
must  be  included  the  method  by  which  the  chorale 
is  worked  out  line  by  line  on  the  scheme  of  a  motet, 
and,  closely  connected  with  this,  the  chorale  fugue, 
in  which  Scheldt  still  clung  evidently  to  the  vocal 
style." 

A  great  deal  of  discussion  is  given  to  Johann 
Christoph  Bach,  of  whom  Spitta  says  :  "  Following 
his  natural  bent,  he  pursued  his  own  path  through 
this  department  of  music,  and,  so  far  as  we  are  now 
able  to  judge,  never  departed  from  it.  The  next 
generation  knew  him  no  more,  —  did  not  understand 
him,  and  ignored  him  altogether.   .  .   .  All  that  he 


Il6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

thus  created  in  his  isolated  position  is  found,  after 
due  consideration,  to  be  neither  unworthy  of  his  great 
talents  nor  in  any  contradiction  to  the  praise  awarded 
to  him,  even  as  a  master  of  the  organ,  by  the  later 
and  greater  members  of  his  family.  But  one  single 
man  cannot  do  everything,  and  Johann  Christoph  is 
a  striking  instance  of  how  much  we  owe  to  the  Ital- 
ians, even  in  that  most  German  of  all  forms  of  music, 
the  organ  chorale.  A  yearning  after  an  ideal  thought- 
fulness,  profound  care  for  details, — these  there  was 
no  need  to  borrow  from  foreigners  ;  but  the  sense  of 
beauty  as  revealing  itself  in  the  frankest  and  grand- 
est forms  was  needed  to  sustain  and  invigorate  us 
ere  we  could  create  anything  truly  masterly.  Such 
succour  soon  came  flowing  in  from  the  South.  The 
organ  with  its  echoing  masses  of  chords,  produced 
by  one  man,  and  progressing  at  his  sole  will  and 
pleasure,  was  the  most  complete  conceivable  contrast 
to  the  ancient  chorale  music,  that  rich  and  compli- 
cated tangle  of  so  many  individual  voices  which  could 
never  altogether  become  mere  instruments.  This, 
more  than  anything  else,  brought  about  the  transfor- 
mation from  the  old  polyphonic  to  the  new  harmonic 
system.  It  may,  perhaps,  seem  strange  to  many 
readers,  and  yet  it  is  quite  natural,  that  even  the 
best  masters,  between  1650  and  1700,  showed  a 
much  more  homophonic  spirit,  a  much  more  inde- 
pendent  treatment  of  the  vocal  parts  than  is  com- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I  17 

patible  with  the  pure  organ  style,  according  to  our 
modern  conception  of  it.  Of  course  the  rigid  and 
heavy  quality  of  the  organ  does  not  require  for  its 
highest  idealisation  mere  external  movement,  —  as 
attained  by  runs  and  spreading  of  chords,  —  but  an 
inner  vitality  from  the  creation  of  musical  entities,  — 
for  what  else  can  we  call  melody  and  motive  ?  —  and 
by  their  intelligent  reciprocity.  But  this  is  always  a 
secondary,  and  not,  as  in  polyphonic  vocal  music, 
a  primary  consideration.  We  admire  with  justice 
the  organic  structure  of  an  organ  piece  by  Sebastian 
Bach,  every  smallest  detail  of  it  instinct  with  vital 
purpose ;  but  the  so-called  polyphonic  treatment, 
which  clothes  the  fine  harmonic  structure,  is  but 
a  beautiful  drapery.  It  resembles  a  Gothic  cathe- 
dral, with  its  groups  of  columns  that  seem  a  spon- 
taneous growth,  and  its  capitals  wreathed  with  flowers 
and  leaves  ;  they  call  up  to  our  fancy  the  seeming  of 
an  independent  life,  but  they  do  not  live,  only  the 
artist  lives  in  them.  This  radical  distinction  cannot 
be  sufficiently  insisted  on  ;  without  a  comprehension 
of  it,  the  whole  realm  of  organ  music  is  an  independ- 
ent art,  and  all  that  has  any  connection  with  it, 
including  the  whole  of  Sebastian  Bach's  work,  cannot 
be  understood." 

After  a  lengthy  discussion  of  Job.  Christoph 
Bach,  Spitta  proceeds  to  show  the  influence  of 
Pachelbel,   who,    "in  the  last   twenty   years   of  the 


Il8  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

seventeenth  century,  helped  above  all  others  to  ad- 
vance the  art  of  organ  music,"  and  we  may  well 
quote  that  portion  which  leads  up  to  the  analysis 
of  Pachelbel's  compositions. 

**  His  constant  changes  of  residence  between 
South  and  Central  Germany  had  an  essential  effect 
on  Pachelbel's  art,  by  giving  rise  in  him  to  the 
amalgamation  of  various  tendencies.  The  style  of 
chorale  treatment  which  was  chiefly  practised  in 
Thuringia  and  Saxony  found  in  the  skeleton  of  the 
church  hymn  a  form  offering,  it  is  true,  a  poetic 
rather  than  a  musical  unity ;  but  it  ran  the  risk  of 
being  decomposed  by  such  handling  into  incoherent 
fragments.  With  that  feeling,  so  especially  char- 
acteristic of  Italy,  for  grand  and  simple  forms, 
toward  which  the  very  being  of  the  organ  pointed, 
and  in  far  more  favourable  circumstances,  Italy  and 
South  Germany,  under  direct  Itahan  influence,  had 
far  outstripped  North  Germany  in  the  art  of  organ 
music.  Frescobaldi,  organist  to  the  church  of  St. 
Peter  at  Rome,  had,  so  early  as  in  the  first  half  of 
the  century,  risen  to  a  height  of  mastery  which,  in 
certain  points,  —  for  instance,  in  the  skilful  contra- 
puntal treatment  of  a  cantus  firrnus,  —  was  scarcely 
surpassed  by  any  Catholic  organ-master  of  later  date. 
In  the  toccata,  by  careful  elaboration,  a  form  had  at 
last  been  worked  out  which  contained  in  itself  nearly 
all  that  the  art  had  then  achieved  —  fugues,  free  imita- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 19 

tions,  brilliant  ornamental  passages,  and  the  mighty 
flow  of  chord  progressions.     This  summit  .  .   .  had 
been   reached  by  the  end  of  the  century ;  what  re- 
mained to  be  done  it  was  beyond  the  powers  of  the 
Catholic  organists  to  achieve.     The  motive  supplied 
by  the  Protestant  chorale  was  lacking  to  them  ;  the 
Gregorian  chant,  which  Frescobaldi  handled  so  effi- 
ciently and  effectively  for  the  organ,  founded  as  it 
was  on  solo  declamation  and  the  church  modes,  was 
opposed  in  its  very  essence  to  that  richer  develop- 
ment in  the  new  harmonic  system,  by  which  alone 
the  full  expansion  of  instrumental  music  became  pos- 
sible.    In  the  Protestant   chorale,   on  the  contrary, 
that  fresh  and  native  growth  from  the  heart  of  the 
people,  organ  music  was  destined  to  find  the  natural 
element   which   the    Roman    nationalities   could  not 
supply  to  it,  that  pure  and  unsophisticated  essence 
which   penetrated   and   invigorated   all   its  branches. 
Nor  was  it  merely  an  abundant  flow  of  new  melodic 
inventions  that  sprung  from  this  source  :  quite  new 
forms  of  art  grew  on  and  from  it ;  an  undreamed-of 
wealth  of  harmonic  combinations  was  discovered,  and 
possibilities  of  instrumental  polyphony  hitherto  un- 
known.    Pachelbel  carried  these  achievements  of  the 
South  into  the  heart  of  Germany,  took  possession  of 
the  elements  he  there  found  ready  to  his  hand,  and 
from  the  two  constructed  something  newer  and  finer. 
Nowhere  better  than  in  Thuringia  could  his  genius 


120  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

have  met  with  men  capable  of  welcoming  it  with 
unbiassed  minds,  and  with  a  greater  capacity  for 
furthering  it  on  its  way.  From  this  time  forth  the 
focus  of  German  organ  music  lay  undoubtedly  in 
Central  Germany ;  the  South  fell  off  more  and 
more ;  the  North,  with  Dietrich  Buxtehude  at  its 
head,  preserved  its  position  somewhat  longer,  and 
even  constructed  a  certain  chorale  treatment  of  its 
own,  which,  however,  lagged  far  behind  that  of 
Central  Germany  in  variety  and  depth." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ENGLISH    ORGANISTS    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Returning  to  England,  the  first  of  the  celebrated 
organists  who  was  born  in  the  eighteenth  century 
was  Doctor  William  Boyce,  a  native  of  London. 
Born  in  1710,  he  became  a  chorister  at  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  and  on  leaving  the  choir  was  articled  to 
Maurice  Greene,  at  that  time  organist  of  the  cathe- 
dral. His  first  position  as  organist  was  at  Oxford 
Chapel,  Vere  St.,  London,  and  while  here  he  contin- 
ued his  studies  under  Doctor  Pepusch.  In  1739  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Michael's,  Cornhill,  and  in 
the  same  year  was  appointed  composer  to  the  Chapel 
Royal,  in  which  office  he  distinguished  himself  by 
writing  many  fine  anthems,  which  are  still  used. 

In    1737   Boyce  was  appointed   conductor  of  the 

festival   of  the  three   choirs,  Gloucester,  Worcester, 

and  Hereford,  which  post  he  held  until    1745,  and 

four  years  later  he  became  organist  of  All  Hallows, 

Thames  Street,  and  in  the  same  year  took  his  degree 

of  Doctor  of  Music  at  Cambridge. 

121 


122  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

In  1755  he  succeeded  Doctor  Greene  as  master 
of  the  kmg's  band  of  music,  and  conductor  of  the 
festivals  of  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy,  held  annually 
at  St,  Paul's  Cathedral.  On  the  death  of  John 
Travers,  in  1758,  Doctor  Boyce  became  organist  to 
the  Chapel  Royal,  resigning  his  other  organ  positions. 

From  his  youth  Doctor  Boyce  had  suffered  from 
deafness,  and  now  his  infirmity  obliged  him  to  give 
up  teaching.  He  therefore  turned  his  attention  to 
the  work  which  has  added  greatly  to  his  fame,  viz., 
the  compiling  of  his  three  volumes  of  Cathedral 
Music,  one  of  the  most  valuable  collections  in 
existence. 

Boyce's  style  was  massive,  dignified,  and  impres- 
sive, and  his  anthems  are  considered  equal  to  any- 
thing in  the  whole  repertory  of  cathedra]  music. 
He  has  been  regarded  by  competent  critics  as  one 
of  the  last  of  a  race  of  English  church  composers 
possessed  of  power  and  individuality  of  character 
sufficiently  well  marked  and  well  set  as  to  enable 
them  to  resist  certain  meretricious  influences  from 
without.  Most  of  those  that  followed  in  the  next 
generation  seemed  moved  to  utter  second-hand 
thoughts  in  a  second-hand  manner,  so  that  in 
sheer  despair  of  obtaining  anything  that  might  be 
counted  as  truly  worthy  of  the  church  service,  men 
looked  abroad,  and  instead  of  studying  to  make 
themselves    equal    to   the    effort    of    continuing    the 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 23 

traditions  of  the  elders,  tinged  with  more  modern 
knowledge,  they  set  themselves  to  work  to  adapt 
compositions  not  originally  intended  for  church  use 
to  words  that  might  give  a  colourable  pretext  for 
their  introduction  into  church. 

A  name  which  may  not  be  exactly  appropriate 
here,  and  yet  which  cannot  well  be  left  out,  is  that 
of  Doctor  Pepusch,  who  was  very  prominent  in  Eng- 
lish musical  matters  for  many  years,  and  who  was 
organist,  for  a  time,  to  the  Duke  of  Chandos,  the 
position  afterward  filled  by  Handel, 

John  Christopher  Pepusch  was  born  in  Berlin, 
where  his  father  was  a  Protestant  clergyman.  His 
musical  talent  was  early  developed,  and  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  received  an  appointment  at  the  Prussian 
court,  which  he  held  for  sixteen  years,  at  the  same 
time  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  Greek,  and 
becoming  a  skilled  theorist.  An  unpleasant  incident 
—  seeing  the  summary  decapitation  of  an  officer  with- 
out trial  —  made  him  feel  the  desirability  of  getting 
away  to  some  place  where  heads  were  safer,  and  he 
went  to  Holland,  and  thence  to  England,  arriving  in 
London  about  the  year  1700.  He  took  his  degree 
at  Oxford  in  171 3,  and  was  prominent  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Academy  of  Ancient  Music,  and  in 
most  of  the  musical  doings  of  the  times, — operatic, 
theatrical,  etc.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on  harrnony,  and 
married  Marguerita  de  I'Epine,  the  celebrated  singer, 


124  ^^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  was  frequently  mentioned  by  Samuel  Pepys  in 
his  immortal  "  Diary." 

In  1737  Doctor  Pepusch  was  appointed  organist 
of  the  Charter  House,  and  retained  that  post  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  which  ended  in  1752. 
Doctor  Pepusch  was  profoundly  skilled  in  musical 
science,  and  was  the  teacher  of  such  men  as  Travers, 
Boyce,  and  Cooke. 

At  one  time  he  set  out  for  the  Bermudas,  to  estab- 
lish a  school  of  music,  but  soon  after  leaving  port 
the  ship  was  wrecked,  and  on  reaching  dry  land,  he 
decided  to  remain  there.  His  marriage  shortly  after- 
wards to  the  songstress  who  brought  him  a  fortune, 
no  doubt  confirmed  his  determination  to  stay  at 
home. 

A  very  remarkable  organist  was  John  Stanley, 
born  in  London  in  1713,  who  became  blind,  by  acci- 
dent, at  the  age  of  two.  He  began  to  learn  music 
when  seven  years  of  age,  and  his  talent  developed  so 
rapidly  that  in  1724,  when  only  eleven  years  old,  he 
was  appointed  organist  at  All  Hallows,  Bread  Street, 
and  two  years  later  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn.  In 
1729  he  took  degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  at  Oxford,  and 
in  1734  he  became  one  of  the  organists  of  the 
Temple  Church.  He  succeeded  Doctor  Boyce  as 
master  of  the  king's  band  of  music  in  1779,  and 
died  in  1786.  He  wrote  a  good  quantity  of  music, 
amongst  which  were  thirty-six  organ  voluntaries.     He 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 25 

appears  to  have  been  a  very  active  man,  for  he  asso- 
ciated himself  with  J.  C.  Smith  in  carrying  on  the 
oratorio  performances  formerly  conducted  by  Handel. 
Burney  says  of  him  that  he  was  "a  neat,  pleasing, 
and  accurate  performer,  a  natural  and  agreeable  com- 
poser, and  an  intelligent  instructor." 

John  Alcock,  born  in  London  in  171 5,  was  a  pupil 
of  Stanley,  though  but  two  years  his  junior.  After 
several  appointments  in  different  places,  he  became 
organist,  master  of  the  choristers,  and  lay  vicar  of 
Litchfield  Cathedral,  but  resigned  the  two  former 
offices  in  1760,  retaining  that  of  lay  vicar.  He  died 
at  Litchfield  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  Alcock  is 
regarded  as  a  good  musician  who  would  not  degrade 
his  art  to  gratify  the  popular  taste. 

Doctor  Nares,  born  at  Stanwell,  Middlesex,  in 
1 71 5,  was  a  chorister  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  after- 
ward a  pupil  of  Doctor  Pepusch.  He  acted  for  a 
time  as  deputy  organist  at  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  but  in  1734  was  appointed  organist  of 
York  Minster.  In  1756  he  became  organist  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  succeeding  Doctor  Greene,  and  he 
died  in  1783.  He  did  not  distinguish  himself  as  a 
composer. 

Doctor  Charles  Burney  was  more  celebrated  as  a 
musical  historian  than  as  an  organist ;  nevertheless, 
as  he  did  hold  various  positions  as  organist  and  as 
he  was  an  important  man  in  musical  history,  he  should 


126  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

be  mentioned  here.  He  became  a  pupil  of  Doctor 
Arne,  and  organist  of  a  church  in  Fenchurch  Street, 
London,  in  1 749,  but  two  years  later,  being  threatened 
with  consumption,  he  accepted  a  position  as  organist 
at  Lynn-Regis,  Norfolk,  where  he  remained  for  nine 
years  and  regained  his  health.  He  now  returned  to 
London  and  entered  actively  into  the  musical  life  of 
the  city,  but  in  1770  he  set  forth  on  a  tour  of  the 
Continent,  in  search  of  material  for  his  history  of 
music.  During  this  first  journey  he  visited  the  south 
of  Europe,  publishing  an  account  of  his  journey  on 
his  return.  He  then  set  out  on  a  tour  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  Germany. 

His  history  of  music  was  published  in  four  vol- 
umes, the  first  appearing  in  1776  and  the  last  in 
1789. 

In  the  same  year  Doctor  Burney  was  appointed 
organist  at  the  Chelsea  Hospital,  and  passed  the 
remaining  twenty- five  years  of  his  life  in  that  place. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  attainments,  exemplary  char- 
acter, spirited  and  gentlemanly  manners.  He  died 
in  18 14.  Among  his  compositions  were  six  cornet 
pieces  with  introduction  and  fugue  for  the  organ. 

Thomas  Saunders  Dupuis,  born  in  England  of 
French  parents,  was  one  of  the  best  organists  of  his 
time  (1733-1796).  As  a  boy  he  was  a  chorister  in 
the  Chapel  Royal,  and  on  the  death  of  Doctor  Boyce 
m    1779,  Dupuis   succeeded   him   there  as  organist. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  127 

Although  he  composed  a  quantity  of  church  music 
which  was  published,  none  of  it  was  ever  reprinted. 

Jonathan  Battishill,  born  in  London  in  1738,  was 
one  of  the  choristers  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and 
became  deputy  organist  for  Doctor  Boyce  at  the 
Chapel  Royal.  He  was  a  good  composer  both  of 
church  and  secular  music,  and  was  known  as  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  extempore  players  of  his  day, 
and  a  most  accomplished  organist.  His  memory  was 
prodigious,  and  he  could  not  only  play  a  piece  which 
he  had  read  through  carefully  once,  but  could  at  any 
time  afterward  recall  it  with  slight  effort  of  memory. 
It  is  said  that  he  once  played  to  Doctor  Arnold  the 
greater  part  of  his  oratorio,  "  The  Prodigal  Son,"  which 
the  author  had  nearly  forgotten,  and  this  without 
ever  having  seen  the  work,  but  having  only  heard  it 
twice  some  thirty  years  previously. 

Battishill  was  twice  married,  and  survived  his 
second  wife  some  twenty-five  years.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's, 
near  to  Doctor  Boyce. 

Doctor  Samuel  Arnold,  born  in  London  in  1740, 
held  many  important  positions,  and  was  an  active  musi- 
cian and  prolific  composer.  He  was  organist  of  West- 
minster Abbey  in  1793,  succeeding  Doctor  Cooke, 
and  three  years  later  became  conductor  of  the  annual 
benefits  for  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy  at  St.  Paul's. 
He  was  also  appointed,  in   1789,  conductor  of  the 


128  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Academy  of  Ancient  Music,  which   institution   was 
then  in  its  dechne. 

Doctor  Arnold  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his 
energies  to  the  stage,  and  composed  several  operas 
which  became  popular  upon  both  sides  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, but  in  church  music  he  is  remembered  chiefly  on 
account  of  his  collection,  which  was  a  continuation  of 
that  made  by  Doctor  Boyce.  He  wrote  several  ora- 
torios and  anthems,  but  they  were  not  remarkably 
successful.  Doctor  Arnold  died  in  1802,  and  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

A  long  period  elapsed  between  Arnold,  and  Att- 
wood  and  Wesley,  who  were  the  next  organists  of 
great  talent  in  England.  There  are,  nevertheless, 
several  names  worthy  of  mention.  The  family  of 
Corfe,  for  instance,  and  that  of  Camidge.  Doctor 
Busby,  John  W.  Callcott,  and  Bcckwith  were  all  men 
of  ability. 

Joseph  Corfe  was  born  in  1740  at  Salisbury,  and 
became  organist  of  Salisbury  Cathedral.  His  son, 
Arthur  Thomas,  born  in  1773,  was  organist  and 
choir-master  of  the  same  cathedral,  being  appointed 
on  the  resignation  of  his  father.  He  died  in  1863,  at 
the  age  of  ninety.  His  son,  Charles  William,  became 
organist  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 

John  Camidge,  born  about  1735,  was  organist  of 
York  Cathedral  from  1756  until  the  time  of  his 
death  in   1 803,  —  forty-seven  years,  —  when  his  son 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 29 

Matthew  was  appointed  to  the  position  thus  made 
vacant.  Matthew  died  in  1844,  when  his  son  John 
succeeded  him  in  the  same  position,  and  the  great 
organ,  which  was  one  of  the  largest  in  England,  was 
built  under  his  supervision.  He  died  in  1859,  when 
the  position  had  been  held  in  the  family  for  a  period 
of  a  hundred  and  three  years. 

Doctor  Busby,  born  in  1755,  at  Westminster,  is 
best  known  by  his  writings  on  musical  subjects, 
especially  his  "  Dictionary  of  Music  "  and  his  "  His- 
tory of  Music,"  He  was  an  excellent  scholar,  and  a 
man  of  great  industry. 

John  Wall  Callcott  was  the  son  of  a  bricklayer  of 
Kensington,  a  suburb  of  London,  and  prosecuted  his 
musical  studies  largely  without  the  aid  of  a  master. 
By  dint  of  indomitable  perseverance  he  succeeded  in 
carrying  off  several  prizes  for  glees,  catches,  etc.,  one 
of  which  was  a  catch  with  the  words  "  Have  you  Sir 
John  Hawkins'  History.?"  When  Haydn  visited  Eng- 
land in  1790,  Callcott  took  some  lessons  of  him  in 
composition.  He  was  appointed  to  succeed  Doctor 
Crotch  as  lecturer  on  music  at  the  Royal  Institution, 
and  eventually  his  exertions  impaired  his  health  and 
resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  mind.  As  an  organist  he 
held  good  appointments,  but  none  of  the  great  ones. 

Thomas  Attwood  was  born  in  1767,  and  became  a 
chorister  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  On  account  of  his 
talent  he  was  sent,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  to  Italy, 


I30  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  after  two  years*  study  at  Naples,  he  proceeded 
to  Vienna,  where  he  became  a  pupil  of  Mozart.  In 
1787  he  returned  to  England,  and  entered  upon  what 
proved  to  be  a  distinguished  career.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  king's  band,  and  soon  became  music 
teacher  of  the  Duchess  of  York  and  the  Princess 
of  Wales.  In  1795  he  became  organist  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  and  in  the  following  year  composer  to  the 
Chapel  Royal,  of  which  church  he  became  organist  in 
1836.     He  died  in  1838. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  career  he  wrote  much 
and  successfully  for  the  stage,  but  later  he  devoted 
his  attention  to  church  music,  and  wrote  many  fine 
anthems. 

Attwood  was  one  of  the  first  among  English  mu- 
sicians to  recognise  the  talent  of  Mendelssohn,  who 
stayed  at  his  house  when  in  England  and  who  dedi- 
cated to  him  three  preludes  and  fugues  for  the 
organ. 

Samuel  Wesley,  born  February  24,  1766,  on  the  an- 
niversary of  the  birth  of  Handel,  was  undoubtedly 
the  greatest  EngHsh  organist  of  his  time,  and  was  un- 
rivalled both  for  his  extempore  playing  and  for  his 
performance  of  the  fugues  of  Bach  and  Handel. 
Though  not  quite  as  precocious  as  his  older  brother 
Charles,  whose  musical  instinct  is  said  to  have  made 
itself  manifest  when  he  was  two  years  and  nine 
months    old,    Samuel    was    not    far   behind.     He   is 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I3I 

said  to  have  been  three  years  old  before  he  could 
play  a  tune.  In  this  particular  he  was  three  months 
behind  his  older  brother,  but  Charles  could  always 
put  a  true  bass  to  his  tune,  while  Samuel  did  not 
acquire  this  accomplishment  until  he  had  learned  his 
notes.  Samuel,  however,  made  up  for  the  delay  by 
composing  an  oratorio  named  "  Ruth  "  when  about 
eight  years  old,  and  this  oratorio  is  said  to  have  met 
with  the  approval  of  Doctor  Boyce. 

When  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  met  with  an 
accident  which  seriously  affected  him  throughout  his 
life,  and  caused  him  to  abandon  his  profession  tem- 
porarily several  times.  He  fell  into  a  deep  excavation 
and  injured  his  skull. 

Samuel  Wesley  was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
admirers  of  the  works  of  Bach,  and  published  an  edi- 
tion of  the  "  Wohltemperirte  Clavier,"  besides  which 
he  promoted  the  publication  of  an  English  version  of 
Forkel's  life  of  Bach. 

His  last  active  appearance  was  at  Christ  Church, 
Newgate  Street,  on  September  12,  1837,  on  which 
occasion  he  had  gone  to  hear  Mendelssohn  play  the 
organ,  and  was  himself  prevailed  upon  to  perform. 
This  is  interesting  because  there  are  so  few  accounts 
of  Mendelssohn's  organ-playing,  Wesley  wrote  a 
dozen  organ  concertos,  and  a  large  number  of  vol- 
untaries. He  died  in  1837,  a  month  after  the  organ 
recital  above  mentioned. 


132  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Wesley's  enthusiasm  over  the  works  of  Bach 
prompted  him  to  labour  energetically  in  order  to  prop- 
agate a  knowledge  of  them  amongst  English  musi- 
cians, and  during  the  years  1808  and  1809  his  efforts, 
in  part,  took  the  form  of  a  series  of  letters  addressed 
to  Benjamin  Jacob.  These  letters  were  edited  and 
published  in  1875  by  Wesley's  daughter,  and  they 
bring  Benjamin  Jacob  into  a  prominence  for  our  pur- 
poses which  he  could  not  have  received  on  account 
of  his  compositions,  which  were  trifling,  or  of  his 
holding  a  prominent  position.  Jacob  was  organist  of 
several  churches  at  various  periods,  but  that  with 
which  he  was  longest  connected,  and  in  which  he 
passed  the  most  active  period  of  his  life,  was  the 
Surrey  Chapel.  Gradually  he  became  more  and 
more  distinguished  as  one  of  the  best  organists  of 
his  day,  and  he  enhanced  his  reputation  by  giving,  at 
the  Surrey  Chapel,  beginning  in  1808,  a  series  of 
performances  of  airs,  choruses,  and  fugues  played 
upon  the  organ  alone,  without  any  interspersion  of 
vocal  pieces  —  in  short,  he  gave  regular  organ  re- 
citals. In  all  probability  it  was  this  enterprise  which 
led  Wesley  to  write  the  series  of  letters  already  men- 
tioned. In  1809,  Wesley  and  Jacob  gave  an  organ 
recital  at  the  Surrey  Chapel,  in  which  they  played 
alternately  some  of  the  fugues  of  Handel  and  Bach, 
as  well  as  other  pieces.  In  later  years  Jacob  gave 
similar   performances    in    conjunction    with    Doctor 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 33 

Crotch.  In  consequence  of  Jacob's  artistic  efforts, 
he  became  an  authority  on  matters  pertaining  to  the 
organ,  was  often  called  upon  to  open  new  organs,  and 
to  act  as  judge  in  the  selection  of  organists.  He  left 
the  Surrey  Chapel  in  1823,  and  died  in  1829.  His 
death  was  hastened  by  a  controversy  with  his  former 
rector. 

Before  leaving  the  name  of  Wesley,  although  he 
belongs  to  a  generation  later  than  that  which  we  are 
now  dealing  with,  and  brings  us  down  to  compara- 
tively recent  times,  it  may  be  well  to  review  Samuel 
Sebastian  Wesley,  the  third  son  of  Samuel,  and  the 
inheritor  of  his  genius. 

Samuel  Sebastian  Wesley  was  born  in  18 10,  be- 
came chorister  at  the  Chapel  Royal  in  1824.  Three 
years  later  he  was  appointed  organist  at  St.  James's 
Church,  Hampstead  Road.  Two  years  later  he  be- 
came organist  of  two  other  churches,  and  held  all 
four  positions  at  the  same  time.  In  1832  he  became 
organist  of  Hereford  Cathedral,  in  1835  Exeter 
Cathedral,  and  in  1842  Leeds  Parish  Church.  In 
1849  he  was  appointed  organist  at  Winchester  Cathe- 
dral, a  position  to  which  he  was  drawn  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  education  of  his  sons.  After  fifteen 
years'  enjoyment  of  this  connection,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  Gloucester  Cathedral,  and  thus  became 
conductor  of  the  Three-Choir  Festivals.  During  his 
incumbency  of  the  Gloucester  position   he  received 


134  ^^^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

a  pension  of  ;^ioo  per  annum  from  the  government 
for  his  services  to  church  music,  an  honour  highly- 
deserved,  for,  in  a  time  when  church  music  was  in 
a  bad  condition,  his  high  standard  and  example  did 
much  to  restore  it  to  its  ancient  prestige.  As  a  com- 
poser, his  fame  rests  chiefly  upon  a  volume  of  twelve 
anthems  published  in  1854.  For  the  organ  alone  he 
wrote  several  pieces,  but  as  a  performer  he  held  a  very 
high  reputation,  and  for  many  years  was  considered  the 
finest  player  in  England.  His  extempore  playing  was 
something  long  to  be  remembered,  and  many  organ- 
ists who  heard  him  changed  their  style  for  the  better, 
some  of  them  catching  a  ray  of  the  afflatus  divimis 
which  as  an  organist  may  be  fairly  ascribed  to  him. 

In  1 844  Wesley  was  a  candidate  for  the  professor- 
ship of  music  at  Edinburgh  University,  which  was 
made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Sir  Henry  Bishop. 
He  was  not  appointed,  but  one  of  his  testimonials, 
written  by  Spohr,  gives  a  concise  estimate  of  his 
standing  as  a  composer :  "  His  works  show  without 
exception  that  he  is  master  of  both  style  and  form  of 
the  different  pieces  of  composition,  and  keeps  himself 
closely  to  the  boundaries  which  the  several  kinds  de- 
mand, not  only  in  sacred  art,  but  also  in  glees  and  in 
music  for  the  pianoforte.  His  sacred  music  is  chiefly 
distinguished  by  a  noble,  often  even  an  antique  style, 
and  by  rich  harmonies  as  well  as  by  surprisingly 
beautiful  modulations." 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 35 

Wesley  died  in  1876,  and  was  buried  at  Exeter. 
No  organist  is  regarded  with  greater  reverence  by 
those  who  remember  him, 

Wilham  Crotch  (i  775-1 847)  was  a  musical 
prodigy,  who  failed  to  fulfil  the  exalted  expectations 
of  his  early  admirers,  but  nevertheless  occupied  a 
prominent  place  among  organists  in  England.  The 
expectations  appear  to  have  been  based  upon  the 
fact  that  at  the  age  of  two  and  a  half  or  less,  he 
evinced  a  strong  desire  to  play  upon  an  organ  which 
his  father  had  built,  and  on  being  placed  before  it  he 
played  a  tune  which  was  pronounced  to  be  some- 
thing like  *'  God  Save  the  King."  Soon  afterward 
he  was  able  to  add  a  bass  to  it,  and  then  to  play 
other  tunes,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  produced 
an  oratorio  which  was  performed  at  Cambridge.  In 
1780,  when  he  was  only  five  years  old,  he  was  taken 
to  London,  and  gave  some  public  performances  on 
the  organ.  In  1786  he  went  to  Cambridge,  and 
became  assistant  to  Doctor  Randall,  who  was  organ- 
ist of  Trinity  and  King's  Colleges,  and  Great  St. 
Mary's  Church,  as  well  as  professor  of  music  at  the 
university. 

The  organ  appointments  of  Doctor  Crotch  were 
all  connected  with  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and 
in  1797  he  became  professor  of  music  to  the  univer- 
sity. Doctor  Crotch  was  appointed  lecturer  at  the 
Royal  Institution  in   1820,  and  two  years  later,  on 


136  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

the  establishment  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music, 
he  was  made  principal  of  it.  His  reputation  as  a 
teacher  was  very  high.  Doctor  Crotch  wrote  several 
anthems,  some  fugues  and  concertos  for  the  organ, 
and  more  or  less  secular  music. 

Another  good  English  organist  was  Thomas 
Adams  (i 785-1858),  who  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
was  appointed  organist  of  the  Carlisle  Chapel,  Lam- 
beth. Subsequent  to  this  he  held  at  various  times 
the  post  of  organist  at  St.  Paul's,  Deptford,  St. 
George's,  Camberwell,  and  St.  Dunstan  in  the  West, 
Fleet  Street,  holding  the  two  latter  conjointly  until 
his  death. 

For  a  period  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
Adams  was  very  prominent  as  a  performer  on  the 
organ,  and  his  services  were  in  constant  requisition 
by  the  organ-builders  to  exhibit  their  instruments 
prior  to  their  removal  from  the  factory  to  their  desti- 
nation. One  of  these  occasions  is  mentioned  by 
Moscheles,  who  heard  him  try  two  new  organs  built 
by  Gray,  one  for  Belfast  and  the  other  for  Exeter 
Hall,  and  admired  exceedingly  the  finished  execution 
and  extempore  playing  of  the  organist.  Adams  ex- 
celled in  both  the  strict  and  free  styles,  and  he  pos- 
sessed a  remarkable  faculty  for  improvising,  in  which 
art  he  showed  great  contrapuntal  skill.  He  also 
composed  many  organ  pieces,  fugues,  voluntaries, 
ninety  interludes,  and  several  variations  on  popular 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  1 37 

themes.  Adams  for  many  years  superintended  the 
performances  on  the  Apollonicon,  a  celebrated  in- 
strument built  by  Flight  and  Robson,  and  having 
both  barrel  and  keys.  The  Apollonicon  was  kept 
on  exhibition  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
was  considered  a  very  remarkable  instrument  in  its 
day.  A  full  account  of  it  can  be  found  in  Grove's 
Dictionary. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

MODERN    CONTINENTAL    ORGANISTS 

During  the  nineteenth  century  organ-playing  seems 
to  have  become  more  popular  in  other  countries  than 
in  Germany.  The  German  builders  have  been  very 
conservative,  and  have  been  left  far  behind  in  the 
race  for  improvement  by  the  French,  Enghsh,  and 
Americans.  Although  the  Germans  were  early  to 
adopt  the  pedal  keyboard,  they  were  very  far  behind 
in  their  adoption  of  the  "  swell-box,"  and  their  ideal 
organ  was  an  instrument  suitable  for  the  proper  per- 
formance of  Bach's  fugues.  In  Germany,  too,  the 
organ  has  been  a  church,  and  not  a  concert  instru- 
ment, while  in  England,  France,  and  America  the 
** organ  concert  "  or  "organ  recital,"  on  organs  placed 
in  concert  halls,  has  given  an  impetus  to  playing 
which,  while  it  has  done  much  to  develop  both  the 
instrument  and  the  performer,  has  also  developed 
certain  undesirable  features  —  undesirable  at  least  in 
the  eyes  of  those  who  wish  the  organ  to  maintain  its 
sacred  character.  To  many  minds  the  playing  of 
opera  overtures  upon  the  organ  is  but  a  degree  less 

138 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  1 39 

shocking  than  the  incident  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, when  Sejan  was  made  to  play  dance-music  on 
the  organ  of  Notre  Dame. 

Germany  remains  the  home  of  intellectual  music 
for  the  organ,  while  the  French  excel  in  the  lighter 
vein,  and  incline  toward  the  sensational. 

Of  German  organists  since  Bach,  Schneider  has 
been  regarded  as  one  of,  if  not  quite,  the  greatest. 

Johann  Gottlob  Schneider  was  born  at  Alt-gersdorf 
in  1789.  His  musical  talent  developed  at  a  very 
early  age,  and  when  twenty-two  years  old,  after  hav- 
ing studied  organ  with  Unger  of  Zittau,  he  was 
appointed  organist  of  the  University  Church  at  Leip- 
zig. In  the  course  of  a  few  years  he  became  known 
as  a  player  of  the  highest  rank,  and  he  gave  many 
concerts  in  Saxony  and  elsewhere.  In  1825  he 
played  at  the  Elbe  Musical  Festival  held  at  Magdeburg, 
and  in  consequence  of  his  excellent  performance  was 
appointed  court  organist  to  the  King  of  Saxony,  a 
post  which  he  held  with  honour  and  renown  until  his 
death  in  1864, 

As  a  player  of  Bach,  Schneider  was  considered  as 
the  first  authority  of  his  day,  and  he  possessed  a 
traditional  reading  of  the  organ  works  of  that  great 
master,  with  all  of  which  he  appeared  to  be  acquainted. 
His  grand  extempore  preludes  to  the  opening  chorales 
at  the  Lutheran  church  at  Dresden  were  a  great  at- 
traction for  all  musical  visitors,  and  on  those  occasions 


140  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

that  particular  form  of  improvisation  which  has  been 
made  a  special  study  and  feature  in  Germany  since 
the  time  of  Bach,  might  be  heard  to  the  greatest 
advantage. 

As  a  teacher  the  elevation  and  dignity  of  his  style, 
the  exclusion  of  everything  derogatory  to  the  instru- 
ment, and  his  reverence  and  enthusiasm  for  the  great 
music  he  delighted  to  teach,  combined,  with  other 
qualities,  to  place  him  in  the  front  rank.  It  was  his 
custom  to  play  any  composition  of  Bach  which  the 
pupil  might  ask  to  hear,  at  the  end  of  each  lesson, 
thus  giving  invaluable  instruction  as  to  tempi,  regis- 
tration, etc. 

Schneider  left  very  few  published  works,  but  they 
are  masterly.  One  of  these  is  an  "answer  of  thanks  " 
for  a  "  Jubel-Album  fiir  die  Orgel,"  containing  about 
thirty  original  pieces,  all  in  classic  form,  by  his  best 
pupils.  This  album  was  presented  to  him  in  1861, 
on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  beginning  of  his 
artistic  career,  and  the  seventy-third  of  his  birth. 
Among  the  contributors  were  Topfer,  Van  Eyken, 
Faisst,  Fink,  Herzog,  Merkel,  E.  F.  Richter,  Schellen- 
berg,  Liszt,  A.  G.  Ritter,  Schaab,  Hering,  Naumann, 
Schurig,  and  Schutze,  who  was  the  editor.  There 
were  seven  hundred  and  fifty  subscribers,  amongst 
them  being  the  king  and  royal  family  of  Saxony. 
His  answer  of  thanks  was  in  the  form  of  a  fugal  treat- 
ment of  "  Nun  danket  alle  Gott." 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  141 

An  excellent  account  of  Schneider  and  his  organ- 
playing  was  given  by  Henry  F.  Chorley,  the  musical 
critic,  who  paid  a  visit  to  the  great  organist  at  his 
home  in  Dresden,  —  an  account  well  worth  reproduc- 
ing :  "  His  simple  and  hearty  welcome,  and  his  homely 
and  intelligent  features,  on  which  a  smile  sits  more 
at  its  ease  than  on  many  countenances  far  more 
regularly  agreeable, — in  short,  the  appearance,  air, 
and  abord  (as  the  French  say)  of  the  man,  had  the 
welcome  familiarity  of  old  acquaintanceship.  It  was 
late  in  the  day  when  I  paid  my  visit ;  and  he  had 
been  occupied  with  his  usual  avocations  since  the 
lark's  hour  of  rising.  But  when  I  told  him  how  short 
the  duration  of  my  stay  in  Dresden  must  be,  he  sent 
for  the  keys  of  the  church  and  his  bellows-blower,  as 
if  he  was  doing  the  most  natural  thing  instead  of  the 
greatest  favour  imaginable,  without  any  superfluous 
words  between  us.  Indeed,  profuse  thanks  would 
have  suited  ill  with  his  hearty  plainness  of  manner, 
and  we  were  out  of  the  house,  and  on  the  road  to 
one  of  the  rarest  musical  pleasures  I  ever  enjoyed,  as 
if  we  had  known  one  another  '  in  the  body '  for 
years,  within  ten  minutes  of  his  breaking  the  seal  of 
's  friendly  letter.   .  .  . 

"Those  who  treat  organ-playing  as  'a  black  busi- 
ness,' to  which  they  bend  themselves  with  frowning 
brows,  and  coat-sleeves  turned  up  half-way  to  the 
shoulders, — the  school  of  kickers,  and  swingers  to 


142  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

and  fro,  who  make  much  exertion  cover  up  very  Httle 
skill,  —  might  have  taken  a  lesson  from  this  admirable 
artist,  whose  hands,  as  they  glide  away  over  the  keys 
(^worked  axvay'  is  the  established  phrase),  were 
bringing  out  into  their  fullest  glory  all  those  mag- 
nificent chains  of  sound,  —  all  those  replies,  and  sus- 
penses, and  accumulations,  which,  with  a  calm  but 
never-tiring  munificence,  the  noble  old  cantor  of 
the  Thomas-Schule  has  lavished  upon  his  composi- 
tions. Perhaps  a  finer  specimen  of  these  does  not 
exist  than  in  the  fugue  in  E  minor,  with  which  Herr 
Schneider  next  indulged  me,  where  the  subject,  spread- 
ing in  the  form  of  a  wedge,  offers  such  excellent 
scope  for  the  amplification  of  science  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  climax,  I  withdrew  to  the  further  corner  of 
the  gallery,  where  the  twilight  was  now  fast  sinking, 
and  while  listening  to  this  marvellous  performance, 
lost  the  personality  both  of  the  composer  and  the 
performer,  more  completely  perhaps,  than  I  have 
ever  done.  It  was  neither  Bach  nor  Schneider :  the 
building  was  filled  to  running  over  with  august  and 
stately  music,  and  the  old  childish  feeling  of  mystery 
and  delight  which,  in  the  days  when  I  was  sparingly 
admitted  to  the  acquaintanceship  of  any  instrument 
whatsoever,  the  gigantic  sounds  of  the  organ  used  to 

awaken  in  me,  came  back  as  if  I  had  been  only 

years  old. 

"After  one  or  two  more  glorious  displays  of  entire 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  1 43 

mastery  over  the  key  and  pedal-board,  '  It  is  too 
dark  for  us  to  see  any  more  of  Bach,'  said  my  hberal 
host,  '  so  you  must  excuse  what  I  am  going  to  do,' 
and  with  that  struck  off  at  once  into  an  improvisation 
of  rare  beauty  of  figure,  and  affluence  of  device. 
The  subject  was  not  at  all  a  recondite  one,  —  simple 
and  bold,  and  at  first  I  fancied  a  little  dryly  treated  : 
what,  indeed,  is  there  that  would  not  sound  so  after 
the  unfoldings  of  Bach  ?  But  whether  the  admirable 
artist  was  excited  by  the  keen  relish  I  showed,  or 
whether  it  is  the  nature  of  such  powers  as  his  to 
sustain  and  to  excite  themselves,  as  he  went  on  the 
depth  of  his  science  was  surpassed  by  the  brilliancy 
of  his  fancy.  It  was  the  work  of  one  hand  to  draw 
and  close  the  stops  which  were  wanted  by  the  play 
of  his  imagination,  a  matter,  of  course,  in  which  he 
could  receive  no  help.  But  he  ministered  to  himself 
with  such  a  wonderful  promptness  and  agility  of 
finger,  that  the  changes  of  hand  from  the  keyboard 
to  the  register  were  never  felt,  while  so  subtly  were 
they  combined  and  alternated,  as  to  be  totally  clear 
of  producing  that  piecemeal  effect  in  which  the 
fantasy  work  of  common  organists  so  often  ends, 
from  a  want  of  a  like  judgment  in  combination.  Till 
then  the  remarkable  mental  energy  demanded  for  an 
exhibition  like  this  never  struck  me  in  all  its  fulness. 
And  yet,  not  only  must  the  performer  originate 
thoughts,    but,   by  new  and  happily   successive   ad- 


144  ^-^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

mixtures,  contrive  effects  totally  beyond  the  reach 
of  him  who  has  only  before  him  the  plain  and  im- 
movable keys  of  a  pianoforte.  Taken  merely  in  its 
most  matter-of-fact  sense,  as  a  display  which  proved 
nothing,  here  were  memory,  combination,  prompti- 
tude, invention,  and  mechanical  skill  united.  I  may 
be  laughed  at,  but  I  could  not  help  imagining  that 
the  exercise  of  a  power  at  once  implying  thought, 
self-mastery,  and  a  patient  use  of  physical  strength, 
could  hardly  have  been  carried  to  so  high  a  perfec- 
tion without  its  favourable  moral  influences ;  and  if 
that  were  so,  herein,  and  not  from  their  being  erected 
in  churches,  might  lie  the  superior  sacredness  of 
organs  beyond  other  instruments  —  herein  the  holi- 
ness of  the  performance  of  the  music  written  for 
them." 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Chorley  attended  the  ser- 
vice at  the  Sophienkirche  and  enjoyed  another 
exhibition  of  Schneider's  skill,  which  he  describes  as 
follows  :  "  He  had  warned  me  that  the  plain  Lutheran 
service  forbade  his  exercising  his  craft  with  anything 
like  fantasy,  but  I  would  not  have  exchanged  what  I 
did  hear  for  the  most  elaborate  performance  which 
hands  and  feet  in  concord  could  have  completed. 
Before  the  service  commenced  to  an  ample  congrega- 
tion, he  treated  us  to  a  brief  prelude  on  the  full 
organ,  of  great  majesty  and  brilliancy,  as  clear  in 
design  and  as  symmetrical  in  elaboration  as  though 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I45 

it  were  an  impromptu  fait  d  loisir.  Then,  while 
accompanying  the  psalms,  —  five  or  six  of  which  were 
most  admirably  sung  by  a  choir  of  eighteen  boys  and 
young  p-en,  —  the  extent  of  resource  brought  by 
him  to  bear  on  a  prosaic  and  inferior  task  (as  a 
second-rate  player  might  choose  to  esteem  it)  was  to 
me  little  less  astonishing  than  the  force  he  had 
shown  in  mastering  the  difficulties  of  Bach,  The 
interludes  between  the  verses  were  substantially  and 
solidly  dignified,  yet  sufficiently  rich  in  ideas  to  set 
up  for  a  twelvemonth  some  of  the  renowned  im- 
provisers  I  have  heard,  while  the  artful  and  unex- 
pected management  of  the  stops,  so  as  to  produce 
every  variety  of  crescendo  and  diminuendo,  entirely 
precluded  the  occupation  of  the  swell.  Though  I 
stood  close  by,  I  was  unable,  from  a  want  of  familiarity 
with  the  manipulations  of  the  instrument,  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  changes  were  executed,  to 
take  any  note  of  the  successions  and  mixtures  of 
stops  employed." 

A  biographical  sketch  of  Mendelssohn  would  be 
out  of  place  and  quite  unnecessary  here,  but  some- 
thing may  be  said  of  him  as  an  organ-player  and 
composer.  In  searching  the  biographies  of  Mendels- 
sohn it  is  surprising  to  find  how  little  mention  is 
made  of  his  organ  playing,  and  yet  we  are  told  that 
when  he  was  in  England  his  organ-playing  was 
watched  with  great  interest,  "  for  he  was  the  greatest 


146  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

of  the  few  great  German  organ-players  who  had 
visited  this  country  (England),  and  the  English  or- 
ganists, some  of  them  no  mean  proficients,  learned 
more  than  one  lesson  from  him." 

In  1837,  on  September  10,  Mendelssohn  played 
the  organ  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  It  was  on  a 
Sunday  afternoon,  and  such  was  the  effect  of  his 
playing  that  the  congregation  would  not  leave,  and  the 
verger  withdrew  the  organ-blower  and  let  the  wind 
out  of  the  organ  in  the  midst  of  Bach's  prelude 
and  fugue  in  A  minor.  Two  days  after  this,  on 
Tuesday,  September  12,  Mendelssohn  played  at 
Christ  Church,  Newgate  Street,  in  the  morning.  He 
was  on  this  occasion  in  a  particularly  good  vein,  and 
played  six  extempore  fantasias,  one  on  a  subject 
given  at  the  moment.  He  also  played  the  Bach 
prelude  and  fugue  which  had  been  so  ruthlessly 
strangled  on  the  previous  Sunday.  It  was  on  this 
occasion  that  Samuel  Wesley  was  present,  and 
played.  He  was  then  seventy-one  years  of  age,  and 
died  a  month  later. 

It  would  be  unnecessary  to  quote  at  length  the 
opinion  of  Doctor  Gauntlett,  who  wrote  an  account  of 
these  performances  in  the  Musical  World,  but  a 
few  of  his  essential  and  less  technical  points  may 
well  be  used  : 

"  It  was  not  that  he  played  Bach  for  the  first  time 
here  —  several  of  us  had  done  that.     But  he  taught 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  I47 

US  how  to  play  the  slow  fugue,  for  Adams  and  others 
had  played  them  too  fast.  His  words  were,  '  Your 
organists  think  that  Bach  did  not  write  a  slow  fugue 
for  the  organ.'  Also  he  brought  out  a  number  of 
pedal  fugues  which  were  not  known  here.  .  .  .  One 
thing  which  particularly  struck  our  organists  was  the 
contrast  between  his  massive  effects  and  the  light- 
ness of  his  touch  in  rapid  passages.  The  touch  of 
the  Christ  Church  organ  was  both  deep  and  heavy, 
yet  he  threw  off  arpeggios  as  if  he  were  at  the 
piano.  His  command  of  the  pedal  clavier  was  also 
a  subject  of  much  remark." 

After  this  he  went  to  Birmingham  for  the  festival, 
and  during  that  period  he  played  the  organ  at  the 
evening  concert  of  Tuesday,  September  19,  when 
he  extemporised  upon  the  subject  of  his  fugue  from 
*'  Your  harps  and  cymbals  "  (Solomon),  and  the  first 
movement  of  Mozart's  Symphony  in  D,  both  of 
which  he  had  conducted  earlier  in  the  day.  On  the 
following  Friday  morning  he  played  Bach's  prelude 
and  fugue  in  E-flat  (St.  Anne's).  Again  in  1840 
he  went  to  Birmingham  to  conduct  the  festival,  and 
played  the  organ  on  several  occasions  both  in  private 
and  in  public,  and  on  all  these  occasions  he  seems  to 
have  caused  wonder  and  delight,  both  by  his  playing 
of  Bach  fugues  and  by  his  extemporising  upon  various 
themes. 

Adolph  Friedrich  Hesse,  born  at  Breslau  (1809- 


148  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

1863),  was  the  son  of  the  celebrated  organ-builder. 
His  talent  was  so  conspicuous  that  the  authorities  of 
tlie  town  of  Breslau  granted  him  an  allowance  suffi- 
cient to  enable  him  to  go  to  Leipzig,  Cassel,  Ham- 
burg, Berlin,  and  Weimar,  in  each  of  which  towns  he 
played  his  own  and  other  compositions,  and  during 
his  sojourn  enjoyed  the  instruction  and  acquaintance 
of  Hummel,  Rinck,  and  Spohr. 

In  1 83 1  Hesse  was  appointed  organist  at  the 
church  of  the  Bernardines,  Breslau,  which  post 
he  retained  until  his  death. 

In  1844  he  travelled  to  Paris.  And  in  a  criticism 
in  the  Revue  et  Gazette  Musicale,  it  is  stated : 
*'  Hesse  plays  with  his  feet  alone  better  than  others 
with  their  hands."  In  1846  he  visited  Italy.  In 
1852  he  went  to  England,  where  every  one  won- 
dered at  and  honoured  him,  especially  in  the  Crystal 
Palace  in  London,  the  monster  organ  of  which  he 
played  in  an  extraordinary  way.  Returning  to  Bres- 
lau, he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  teaching,  and  his 
fame  was  such  that  he  had  many  visits  from  admirers. 
He  was  director  of  the  Symphony  Concerts  at  Bres- 
lau. His  "  Practical  Organist,"  containing  twenty- 
nine  pieces,  is  a  widely  known  work,  but  he  wrote 
also  many  works  for  the  organ,  besides  other  music. 

"  Karl  August  Haupt  was  born  in  Kunern,  Silesia, 
August  25,  18 10.  His  musical  studies  were  directed 
by  A.  W.  Bach,  Bernard  Klein,   Siegfried  Wilhelm 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 49 

Dehn,  and  somewhat  later  by  Friedrich  Johann 
Schneider  and  Johann  Gottlob  Schneider.  He  made 
such  marked  progress  that,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
he  received  an  appointment  at  the  French  Convent 
in  Berhn.  Not  yet  satisfied,  and  struggHng  with 
poverty,  he  continued  his  progress  till,  in  1849,  he 
succeeded  Louis  Thiele  in  the  parish  church  of  that 
city, 

"His  reputation  spread  abroad,  and  many  organists 
visited  Berlin  to  hear  his  remarkable  execution  and 
his  fine  improvisation  in  the  style  of  J.  S.  Bach. 

"In  1854  he  was  consulted  by  a  number  of  Eng- 
lish organists,  who  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
draft  the  plans  for  a  large  organ  for  the  Crystal  Pal- 
ace, near  London.  In  1870  he  was  elected  director 
of  the  Konigliche  Hochschule  fiir  Kirchenmusik  in 
Berlin,  succeeding'  his  old  master,  Bach,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  till  his  death,  July  4,  1 89 1 . 

"  When  Professor  Haupt  was  in  the  prime  of  life, 
his  performance  of  the  organ  music  of  Bach,  Men- 
delssohn, and  Thiele  was  remarkable  for  its  clear- 
ness, breadth,  and  absolute  accuracy.  His  personal 
acquaintance  with  Mendelssohn  and  Thiele  created  a 
special  fondness  for  their  music,  though,  in  his  later 
years,  with  the  decline  of  his  youthful  vigour,  he 
rarely  played  any  concerted  music,  confining  himself 
to  extempore  playing,  and  frequently  calling  Thiele's 
music  'furchtbar  schwer^ 


I50  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

"In  1883  Professor  Haupt  told  me'  that  over  a 
hundred  and  fifty  American  organists  had  studied 
with  him,  among  whom  he  mentioned  Eugene 
Thayer,  George  W.  Morgan,  Clarence  Eddy,  J.  K. 
Paine,  Arthur  Bird,  and  Philip  Hale.  He  said  he 
was  'always  pleased  to  have  American  pupils,  as  they 
worked  with  so  much  determination  and  energy.' 

"  I  have  many  fond  recollections  of  my  early  morn- 
ing lessons  with  him,  when  he  would  meet  me  at  the 
old  Parochial  Kirche  on  Kloster  Strasse,  take  out  of 
his  bag  the  enormous  key  (not  less  than  nine  inches 
long),  and,  after  placing  it  in  the  lock,  and  turning 
it  round  with  his  two  hands  twice,  take  out  another 
key  a  trifle  smaller,  and  unlock  a  second  lock  by 
turning  that  key  around  twice,  after  all  of  which 
we  could  enter  the  dark,  bare  vestibule  of  the 
church.  On  our  way  up-stairs  several  doors  had 
to  be  unlocked  and  locked  again,  till  finally  we 
stood  before  the  old  organ.  This  instrument  had 
forty-two  registers.  The  colour  of  the  keys  was  the 
reverse  of  the  modern  custom.  The  stops  worked 
on  the  ratchet  principle,  and  each  one,  when  being 
drawn,  had  a  squeak  peculiar  unto  itself.  There  was 
no  low  C-sharp  in  the  pedal  keyboard,  and  a  swell- 
pedal  or  a  combination  pedal  would  have  been  a 
luxury. 

'  This  account  of  Haupt  is  taken,  by  permission  of  Mr.  Tniette, 
the  writer,  from  the  Etude. 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I5I 

"Notwithstanding  the  barren  surroundings,  the 
lessons  were  always  instructive  and  intensely  interest- 
ing. After  playing  a  couple  of  preludes  and  fugues 
of  Bach,  or  a  Mendelssohn  sonata,  which  were  inter- 
spersed with  various  squeaks  as  the  professor  took  a 
notion  to  change  the  registration,  he  would  take 
a  pinch  of  snuff,  and  finally  say :  '  Ach,  ja  !  sehr 
gilt,  sehr  gut' 

"  After  numerous  suggestions  from  him  we  would 
converse  a  large  part  of  the  forenoon  on  topics  con- 
nected with  the  organ,  he  relating  numerous  experi- 
ences with  Mendelssohn,  Bach,  and  Thiele,  and  many 
foreign  organists,  while  I,  with  my  extremely  limited 
stock  of  'high-school  German,'  would  give  monosyl- 
labic answers  and  ask  numerous  questions  in  the  most 
bungling  manner.  At  home  on  Oranienberger  Strasse 
he  was  equally  interesting  and  always  sociable." 

Johann  Georg  Herzog,  born  1822,  at  Schmolz  in 
Bavaria,  was  a  modern  organist  of  excellent  ability, 
and  a  composer  of  great  merit  for  his  instrument. 
His  early  career  was  passed  in  Munich,  where  he 
became  organist  in  1842,  and  seven  years  later 
cantor. 

In  1850  he  was  appointed  professor  at  the  Con- 
servatorium.  Five  years  later  he  removed  to  Erlan- 
gen,  where  he  became  a  teacher  in  the  university 
and  director  of  the  Singakademie,  positions  which 
he   held    until    1888,   when  he    retired    to    Munich. 


152  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Herzog's  best  known  works  are  his  "  Praludenbuch  " 
and  his  "  Handbuch  fur  Organisten." 

Emmanuel  Gottlob  Friedrich  Faisst,  born  at  Ess- 
lingen  in  1823,  entered  the  university  at  Tubingen 
as  a  theological  student,  but  his  musical  talents, 
which  had  already  shown  themselves  in  the  direction 
of  great  proficiency  on  the  organ,  were  too  strong, 
and  in  1844,  when  he  went  to  Berlin  and  showed  his 
compositions  to  Mendelssohn,  he  determined  to  make 
music  his  profession.  He  had  already  made  great 
progress  without  any  instruction  worthy  of  mention, 
and  on  the  advice  of  Mendelssohn,  he  continued  his 
work  in  composition  without  a  teacher. 

In  1846  Faisst  appeared  in  several  German  towns 
as  an  organ-player,  and  eventually  took  up  his  abode 
in  Stuttgart,  where,  in  1847,  he  founded  an  organ 
school  and  a  society  for  the  study  of  church  music. 
Ten  years  later  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Conservatorium,  of  which  he 
was  later  appointed  manager. 

His  writing  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  church 
and  choral  compositions,  but  several  organ  pieces  of 
his  composition  have  been  published.  Faisst  died  at 
Stuttgart  in  1894. 

Gustav  Merkel  (1827-85)  was  born  at  Oberoder- 
witz,  Saxony,  and  became  one  of  the  best  organists 
and  composers  for  his  instrument  of  the  nineteenth 
century.     He  was  a  pupil  of  Schneider  at  Dresden, 


GUSTAV    MERKEL 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 53 

but  also  received  instruction  from  Julius  Otto,  Reis- 
siger,  and  Schumann.  The  appointments  which  he 
held  were  as  follows  :  Waisenkirche,  Dresden,  1858  ; 
Kreuzkirche,  i860;  court  organist,  1864;  professor 
at  the  Conservatorium,  1861  ;  director  of  the  Dresden 
Singakademie,   1867-73. 

Merkel's  compositions  for  the  organ  are  numerous 
and  of  a  very  high  order  ;  indeed,  he  is  unsurpassed  by 
any  composer  of  his  day,  and  his  writings  show  him 
to  have  been  a  true  disciple  of  the  lofty  and  imper- 
ishable school  of  which  Bach  was  the  founder  and 
master.  His  later  organ  sonatas  are  noble  specimens 
of  that  form  of  writing,  and  entitle  him  to  the  high- 
est position  as  a  composer  for  the  organ.  His  works 
include  a  large  number  of  preludes,  fugues,  fantasias, 
variations,  and  sonatas,  besides  some  pieces  for  violin, 
cello,  and  organ. 

Joseph  Gabriel  Rheinberger  (i 837-1901)  was  one 
of  the  best  German  organists  and  teachers  of  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  He  was  a 
native  of  Vaduz,  and  a  very  precocious  child,  being 
organist  of  the  church  in  his  native  place  at  the  age 
of  seven,  and  as  his  legs  were  too  short  to  reach  the 
pedals,  a  second  set  of  pedals  was  fixed  above  the 
regular  pedal  clavier.  Soon  after  becoming  organist 
of  this  church  he  composed  a  mass  in  three  parts 
with  organ  accompaniment. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  Rheinberger  was  sent  to  the 


154  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Conservatorium  at  Munich,  where  he  studied  until  he 
was  nineteen.  He  was  now  appointed  pianoforte 
teacher  in  the  same  institution  and  organist  of  the 
Hofkirche  of  St.  Michael,  and  then  director  of  the 
Munich  Oratorienverein. 

In  1867  Rheinberger  received  the  title  of  Royal 
Professor,  and  became  instructor  in  counterpoint  and 
higher  organ-playing  at  the  Munich  Conservatorium. 
In  this  position  he  had  many  pupils,  not  a  few  being 
Americans,  amongst  them  G.  W.  Chadwick  and  H. 
W.  Parker,  both  prominent  in  American  musical 
life. 

In  1877  he  was  appointed  chapel-master  of  the 
royal  choir.  His  compositions  are  numerous  and  of 
a  very  high  order ;  among  them  may  be  mentioned 
the  "  Symphonische  Tongemalde  Wallenstein,"  two 
Stabat  Maters,  the  opera  "  Die  sieben  Raben,"  the 
oratorio  "  Christophorus,"  three  pianoforte  sonatas, 
a  grand  requiem,  also  one  a  capella  theme  with  fifty 
metamorphoses  for  strings,  three  trios,  a  pianoforte 
quartet,  a  nonet,  a  string  quartet,  twenty  organ 
sonatas,  an  organ  concerto,  a  comic  opera,  "  Des 
Tiirmers  Tochterlein,"  a  vaudeville,  "Das  Zauber- 
Mrort,"  the  choral  works,  "  Toggenburg,"  "  Klarchen 
auf  Eberstein,"  "Das  Thai  des  Espingo,"  and  "  Wit- 
tekind,"  a  pianoforte  concerto,  several  masses,  many 
hymns  and  vocal  compositions,  and  pianoforte  and 
organ  pieces. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I  5  5 

Rheinberger's  organ  works  have  been  estimated 
very  highly,  and  are  well  known  in  all  churches 
where  good  music  is  required.  In  the  biographies 
published  at  the  time  of  his  death,  it  was  said  that 
the  mantle  of  Bach  and  Mendelssohn  had  fallen  upon 
his  shoulders.  His  genius,  however,  will  not  com- 
pare with  that  of  Bach,  or  even  of  Mendelssohn  ;  but 
while  he  was  a  master  of  the  technique  of  his  instru- 
ment and  possessed  a  deep  sympathetic  insight  with 
its  special  capabilities,  he  also  had  a  mind  fruitful  in 
the  conception  of  genuine,  sincere,  and  sometimes 
very  fine  musical  ideas.  Of  these,  many  are  formed 
into  his  organ  sonatas,  which  reflect  the  spirit  of 
modern  music  not  less  in  their  ingenious  structural 
design  than  in  the  freshness  and  beauty  of  their 
themes. 

Rheinberger's  organ  sonatas  form  an  important 
part  of  the  repertoire  of  the  modern  organist,  and 
they  deserve  careful  and  critical  study.  He  may  be 
said  to  have  undertaken  for  the  organ  what  Beethoven 
did  for  the  pianoforte,  that  is  to  say,  the  development 
of  the  organ  sonata.  In  this  great  task  he  may  not 
have  met  with  the  most  perfect  success,  nevertheless 
Rheinberger's  twenty  sonatas  are  so  full  of  brilliant 
and  original  ideas,  and  form  the  employment  of  such 
structural  device,  that  they  may  justly  be  said  to 
mark  an  epoch  in  the  development  of  the  organ 
sonata. 


156  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  following  is  a  personal  view  of  Rheinberger 
by  J.  W.  Nicholl,  in  Musical  Opinion : 

"  With  his  monumental  series  of  twenty  organ 
sonatas,  Rheinberger  enriched  organ  literature  to 
an  incalculable  extent.  The  predominating  charac- 
teristics of  his  sonatas  are  a  happy  blending  of  the 
modern  romantic  spirit  with  masterly  counterpoint 
and  a  noble  and  dignified  organ  style  ;  and,  as  exam- 
ples of  perfect  form,  these  organ  sonatas  are  unri- 
valled. Movements  of  wonderful  beauty  and  lofty 
inspiration  are  found  in  each  one  of  them,  and  it  is 
a  real  joy  to  the  earnest  and  conscientious  organist 
to  study  and  assimilate  these  fine  examples  of 
musical  art, 

"  All  Rheinberger's  pupils  stood  in  profound  awe 
of  him  ;  respect  mingled  with  admiration  was  the 
prevailing  sentiment  he  inspired.  Perfectly  simple, 
honest,  and  straightforward,  —  sparing  not  himself, 
—  he  expected  every  one  to  be  the  same,  and  any 
lack  of  effort  on  the  part  of  a  student  called  forth  his 
severest  censure.  This  was  most  noticeable  in  his 
organ  class,  which  was  very  select,  containing  only 
students.  He  expected,  and  in  fact  demanded,  that 
a  student  should  be  technically  perfect  in  an  organ 
piece  before  playing  it  for  him.  Rheinberger's  four 
organ-students  —  two  Germans,  an  American,  and  an 
Englishman  (the  writer)  —  had  to  work  very  hard 
and  conscientiously  to  satisfy  the  doctor.    At  a  tech- 


JOSEPH    GABRIEL    RHEINBERGER 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I  57 

nical  blunder  the  professor  would  frown,  and  if  later 
in  the  lesson  the  same  mistake  occurred,  he  would  ex- 
postulate. Once,  from  nervousness  or  perhaps  lack  of 
sufficient  preparation,  a  student  made  the  same  mis- 
take three  times  during  the  playing  of  a  Rheinberger 
sonata ;  the  result  was  that  the  lesson  came  to  a 
violent  stop,  and  the  unfortunate  student  left  the 
Conservatorium  in  a  very  unenviable  state  of  mind. 
"  As  one  would  expect,  Rheinberger's  idea  of  the 
greatest  in  organ  music  is  Bach,  given  with  broad 
and  noble  delivery.  The  many  changes  of  manual 
affected  by  some  modern  organists  and  arrangers 
of  Bach's  music  he  strongly  deprecated.  Once  when 
the  present  writer  suggested  changes  of  manual  to 
add  variety  to  a  performance  of  a  Bach  fugue,  Rhein- 
berger said  :  *  This  fugue  can  be  compared  to  a  noble 
and  beautifully  finished  piece  of  architecture  com- 
plete in  itself,  and  unnecessary  changes  can  only 
have  a  weakening  and  degrading  effect.'  Rhein- 
berger had  a  great  horror  of  the  'ugly'  music:  any 
straining  after  effect  he  strongly  condemned.  An- 
other time  the  writer  played  a  very  modern  prelude 
out  of  curiosity  to  see  how  the  doctor  would  take  it. 
The  effect  upon  him  was  curious  ;  he  kept  up  an 
accompaniment  of  sighs  and  groans  all  through  the 
performance,  and,  when  the  music  (?)  had  finished, 
he  turned  and  said :  '  That  to  me  is  like  a  man  deliv- 
ering an  elaborate  oration  in  an  unknown  tongue.' 


158  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

The  primary  consideration  in  music,  he  said,  'is  that 
it  shall  be  beautiful ;  music  that  does  not  sound 
beautiful  has  no  attraction  for  me.'  " 

Samuel  de  Lange,  a  noted  Dutch  organist  and 
composer,  was  born  at  Rotterdam  in  1840,  and  was 
the  son  of  an  organist,  who  was  also  his  first  teacher. 
De  Lange  studied  also  at  Vienna  and  at  Lemberg, 
made  concert  tours  in  Galicia  in  1858-59,  and 
lived  in  Lemberg  until  1863,  when  he  became  organ- 
ist and  teacher  at  the  Rotterdam  Music  School. 
From  1874  to  1876  he  was  teacher  at  a  music  school 
in  Basel,  and  was  then  called  to  a  similar  position  at 
Cologne  Conservatoire.  He  became  teacher  and 
vice-director  at  the  Stuttgart  Conservatoire,  and  in 
1895  conductor  of  the  Stuttgart  Society  for  Classical 
Church  Music.  For  a  number  of  years  De  Lange 
made  tours  as  an  organ  virtuoso  through  Central 
Europe. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  French  organists. 

According  to  M.  Guilmant,  the  father  of  the 
French  school  of  organ-playing  was  Jean  Titelouze, 
a  name  not  to  be  found  in  the  dictionaries  of  music 
most  in  use.  For  many  years  the  French  school 
was  noted  for  its  triviality,  and  it  has  at  times  re- 
lapsed into  that  condition.  Alexandre  Boely,  who 
died  in  1858,  made  a  great  effort  to  introduce  the 
works  of  Bach  and  other  serious  composers  into 
France,  but  was  unsuccessful.     He  was  organist  for 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 59 

some  time  of  the  church  of  L'Auxerrois  at  St.  Ger- 
main, but  he  sacrificed  himself  to  his  artistic  desires 
and  was  dismissed  from  his  church. 

A  few  years  later  Lemmens,  the  Belgian  organist, 
astonished  the  French  by  his  playing  of  Bach  fugues, 
and  was  more  successful  in  his  efforts  than  Boely 
had  been.  He  may  be  said  to  have  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  a  more  serious  style,  and  his  example  has 
been  followed  by  a  long  list  of  noted  organists, 
among  whom  are  conspicuous  the  names  of  Franck, 
Chauvet,  Salome,  Saint-Saens,  Widor,  Guilmant, 
Gigout,  Loret,  and  Dubois. 

Some  mention  has  already  been  made  of  Mar- 
chand,  the  French  organist  who  was  put  to  flight  by 
Bach.  Louis  Marchand  was  a  native  of  Lyons,  born 
about  1 67 1,  and  becoming  renowned  in  Paris  for 
his  organ-playing,  was  made  court  organist  at  Ver- 
sailles. He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  reckless 
and  dissipated  habits,  which  got  him  into  trouble. 
It  is  said  that  the  king  caused  half  his  salary  to  be 
paid  to  his  wife,  an  arrangement  which  did  not  suit 
M.  Marchand,  who  showed  his  resentment  by  stop- 
ping in  the  middle  of  a  mass  and  leaving  the  church. 
The  king  remonstrated  and  Marchand  replied  :  "  Sire, 
if  my  wife  gets  half  my  salary,  she  may  play  half  the 
service."  This  caused  his  banishment,  and  hence 
his  presence  in  Dresden.  On  his  flight  from  Dres- 
den he  returned  to  Paris,  his  banishment  being  ended, 


l60  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  set  up  as  a  music  teacher,  meeting  with  great 
success,  inasmuch  as  he  became  the  fashion  and  was 
able  to  charge  enormous  prices  for  his  lessons.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  frothy,  overrated  individual, 
and  he  died  in  poverty  in  1732. 

There  have  been  two  noted  French  organists  of 
the  name  of  S6jan.  Nicolas  Sejan,  born  in  Paris  in 
1745,  became  organist  of  St.  Andr6-des-Arts  at  the 
age  of  fifteen.  In  1772  he  was  appointed  to  Notre 
Dame,  and  in  1783  to  St.  Sulpice.  In  1789  he  be- 
came organist  at  the  Invalides,  and  in  18 14  of  the 
Royal  Chapel.     He  died  in  Paris  in  18 19. 

Nicolas  Sejan  went  through  a  thrilling  experience 
at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution.  In  1793  the 
revolutionists  held  high  carnival  in  the  church  of 
Notre  Dame  ;  a  dancer  from  the  opera,  one  Demoiselle 
Candeille,  was  installed  upon  the  altar  as  the  God- 
dess of  Reason,  while  Laharpe  made  an  address 
abolishing  all  religion.  A  full  account  of  these 
sacrilegious  proceedings  will  be  found  in  Carlyle's 
"  French  Revolution."  To  wind  up  the  orgies  a  ball 
was  given,  and  S6jan  was  compelled  to  play  dance 
music  upon  the  great  organ,  while  the  mob  danced 
and  howled  popular  songs. 

Louis  Sejan  was  organist  of  St.  Sulpice  until  1863, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  friend  and  pupil,  Le- 
febure-Wely.  He  was  noted  for  elegance  of  form  in 
his  playing. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  l6l 

Another  French  organist  who  added  something  to 
the  musical  hterature  of  the  organ  was  Francois 
Benoist,  a  native  of  Nantes  (1794-1878).  Entering 
the  Paris  Conservatoire  in  181 1,  he  remained  there 
for  four  years  and  carried  off  the  Grand  Prix  de 
Rome.  On  his  return  from  Italy  he  became  organist 
at  the  Chapel  Royal  and  professor  of  organ-playing 
at  the  Conservatoire.  Besides  numerous  other  com- 
positions he  left  his  **  Bibliotheque  de  I'Organiste," 
consisting  of  twelve  books  of  organ  works. 

One  of  the -most  prominent  French  organists  of 
the  nineteenth  century  was  Louis  James  Alfred  Le- 
febure-Wely,  a  native  of  Paris  (18 17-1869).  He 
was  the  son  of  an  organist  and  composer  named 
Lefebvre,  who  took  the  name  of  Lefebure-Wely, 
The  young  musician  learned  his  notes  before  his  al- 
phabet, and  showed  a  marvellous  aptitude  for  music 
as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  speak.  Such  was  his  pre- 
cocity that  he  was  his  father's  assistant  when  only 
eight  years  of  age,  accompanying  the  plain-song  and 
playing  short  pieces.  On  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1 83 1  the  boy  was  appointed  his  successor  at  the 
church  of  St.  Roch.  In  the  following  year  he  en- 
tered the  Conservatoire  and  gained  the  second  prizes- 
for  pianoforte  and  organ  in  1834,  and  the  first  prizes 
in  the  following  year.  Outside  of  the  Conservatoire, 
he  took  lessons  in  composition  of  Adolphe  Adam 
and  in    organ-playing   and  improvising  of  Sejan,  to 


l62  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

whom  he  owed  a  great  deal.  His  improvisations 
were  considered  marvellous,  and  the  piquancy  of  his 
harmonies,  the  unexpectedness  of  his  combinations, 
and  the  fertility  of  his  imagination,  together  with  the 
charm  which  pervaded  all  his  work,  gained  for  him 
the  title  of  "the  Auber  of  the  organ," 

Wely  was  organist  of  the  Madeleine  from  1 847  to 
1858,  during  which  time  he  received  the  Legion  of 
Honour,  For  some  years  he  had  no  regular  post, 
but  in  1863  he  was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Sulpice, 
which  post  had  long  been  held  by  his  friend  and 
teacher,  Sejan.     Here  he  remained  until  his  death. 

Lef6bure-Wely  was  a  man  of  untiring  energy,  and 
wrote  a  great  deal  of  music,  many  of  his  compositions 
being  for  the  organ  and  harmonium,  the  use  of  which 
latter  instrument  he  made  very  popular  in  France. 

The  French  organists  have  been  compared  as 
follows  : 

**  In  the  gallery  of  organists  of  St.  Sulpice,  Nivert 
represents  correctness,  Clerembault  majesty,  Coppeau 
religious  unction,  Nicolas  Sejan  elevated  thought, 
Louis  S^jan  elegance  of  form,  Georges  Schmidt  im- 
petuosity and  brilliancy.  Lefebure-Wely  may  claim 
many  of  the  qualities  of  his  predecessors,  adding  the 
radiant  charm  of  melody  and  the  scintillation  of  a 
charming  fancy." 

Antoine  Edouard  Batiste,  a  native  of  Paris  (1820- 
^G),  has  been  called  a  musician  of  severe  and  un- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  163 

erring  taste,  and  one  of  the  best  organists  of  his  time. 
Batiste,  as  a  child,  was  one  of  the  pages  of  Charles 
X.,  but  at  the  age  of  ten  he  was  sent  to  the  Conserva- 
toire, where  he  went  through  a  course  of  solfeggio, 
harmony,  counterpoint,  fugue,  and  organ-playing.  In 
these  studies  he  carried  off  the  first  prizes,  and  in 
1840  obtained  the  second  Prix  de  Rome.  While 
still  a  student  at  the  Conservatoire  he  was  entrusted 
with  classes  of  solfeggio,  and  later  he  became  teacher 
of  a  choral  class  and  of  a  class  of  harmony  for 
women.  In  1842  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the 
church  of  St.  Nicolas  des  Champs,  and  twelve  years 
later  of  St.  Eustache,  which  position  he  held  until 
his  death. 

Batiste  will  be  remembered  chiefly  by  his  educa- 
tional works,  his  diagram  for  reading  music,  and 
particularly  by  his  accompaniments  for  organ  writ- 
ten on  the  figured  basses  of  celebrated  solfeggi  by 
Cherubini,  Catel,  Gossec,  and  other  masters  of  that 
date.  He  was  an  exceptionally  fine  teacher  and 
performer,  but  his  organ  works  were  not  by  any 
means  equal  to  his  talent  as  a  professor  and  executant. 

The  following  estimate  of  Batiste  is  taken  from  an 
article  by  E,  E.  Truette  in  the  Etude : 

"  Comparatively  few  composers  of  organ  music  have 
become  so  universally  popular  as  the  composer  of 
the  four  '  Offertories  to  St.  Cecilia.'  This  popular- 
ity, which  is  hardly   enviable,   is  due  to  the   'ear- 


164  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

tickling  tunefulness '  of  his  melodies  and  an  absence 
of  technical  difficulties,  rather  than  to  the  presence 
of  any  musicianly  content  in  his  compositions. 

"  He  was  a  prolific  composer,  and  two  hundred  and 
ninety-two  of  his  compositions  have  been  published 
by  the  house  of  Ashdown,  under  the  editorship  of 
the  late  Doctor  Spark.  Twenty-two  of  these  com- 
positions are  '  arrangements,'  and  prove  an  absence 
of  the  savoir  faire  which  is  necessary  in  adapting 
compositions  for  the  organ  which  were  originally 
composed  for  other  instruments. 

"In  this  list  of  nearly  three  hundred  compositions, 
numbers  three  to  nine,  called  '  Grand  Offertories,' 
and  including  the  St.  Cecilia  Offertories,  are  the  best 
known.  It  requires  a  minimum  amount  of  technical 
skill,  compared  with  the  'noisy  show,'  to  perform 
these  offertories,  and  the  average  organist  can  play 
them  at  sight. 

"The  celebrated  andante  in  G,  called  'Com- 
munion in  G,'  which  was  further  named  by  Doctor 
Spark  'The  Pilgrim's  Song  of  Hope,'  is  the  cJief 
d'cetivre  of  many  an  organist,  and  figures  prominently 
in  the  repertoire  of  the  so-called  '  right-foot-always- 
on-the-swell-pedal  organists.'  So  long  as  audiences 
continue  to  encore  it,  so  long  will  the  majority  of 
organists  continue  to  perform  it ;  but  it  reflects  on 
the  musical  culture  of  the  people  when  such  a  com- 
position  receives   storms  of  applause  from  an  audi- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 65 

ence  which  will  be  only  indifferently  enthusiastic 
over  a  Guilmant  sonata,  a  Merkel  pastorale,  or  a 
Bach  toccata. 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  Batiste  possessed  genius 
of  some  sort.  The  organ  at  St.  Eustache  was  a 
noisy  instrument,  containing  many  solo  stops,  but 
was  deficient  in  pleasing  combinations,  notwithstand- 
ing its  four  manuals  and  sixty-eight  speaking  stops, 
and  nothing  so  influences  the  style  of  the  playing  or 
composing  of  an  organist  as  the  particular  organ 
which  is  his  constant  companion. 

"  To  mention  a  few  of  his  better-known  composi- 
tions, beside  the  *  Communion  in  G,'  which  has 
already  been  alluded  to,  the  '  Offertories '  in  D, 
C-minor,  and  F  are  the  most  popular.  The  '  Offer- 
tory in  B-minor '  is  a  piece  of  musical  fireworks  of 
the  order  of  Widor's  toccata  from  the  *  Fifth  Sym- 
phony.' The  '  Offertory  in  A-minor,'  based  on  an 
old  Easter  hymn,  is  of  '  the  left  hand  melody  and 
right  hand  flute  arpeggio '  variety.  The  *  Offertory 
in  E '  (No.  22)  and  '  Postlude  in  E-flat '  are  only 
somewhat  less  popular. 

*•  It  has  been  said  that,  without  the  music  of  Ba- 
tiste, organ  music  would  be  less  popular  than  it  is ; 
that  many  people  are  first  attracted  to  the  organ  by 
the  tunefulness  of  the  music  of  this  composer.  The 
latter  point  is  undoubtedly  true,  just  as  many  people 
are  first  attracted  to  music  by  the  'rag-time'  melo- 


1 66  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

dies  and  '  coon '  songs  of  to-day,  but  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  rank  of  musicians  would  be  noticeably  depicted 
if  such  music  were  banished." 

Nicolas  Jacques  Lemmens  (1823-81)  was  born 
at  Zoerle-Parwys,  Westerloo,  Belgium,  and  was  the 
son  of  an  organist.  He  began  his  organ  studies  at 
the  age  of  eleven,  under  Van  der  Broeck,  organist 
at  Dieste.  Four  years  later  he  entered  the  Conser- 
vatoire at  Brussels,  but  remained  only  a  short  time, 
as  he  was  called  home  on  account  of  the  illness  of  his 
father.  During  this  time  he  succeeded  his  former 
teacher  as  organist  at  Dieste,  but  in  1841  he 
returned  to  the  Conservatoire,  where  he  carried  off 
the  second  prize  for  composition  in  1844,  and  the 
first  in  1845,  as  well  as  the  first  prize  for  organ-play- 
ing. In  the  following  year  he  was  sent,  at  the  expense 
of  the  government,  to  Breslau,  where  he  became  a 
pupil  of  Hesse,  remaining  a  year,  and  returning 
with  a  testimonial  from  his  teacher  to  the  effect  that 
he  could  "play  Bach  as  well  as  he  himself  did." 

Lemmens  was  now  appointed  professor  of  organ- 
playing  at  the  Brussels  Conservatoire,  and  his  energy 
and  talent  brought  him  many  pupils,  and  inspired 
a  new  feeling  throughout  Belgium.  In  1857  he 
married  Miss  Sherrington,  an  English  lady  who  was 
a  prominent  singer,  and  who,  as  Madame  Lemmens- 
Sherrington,  became  the  most  popular  soprano  in 
England.       After    his    marriage,    Lemmens    resided 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 6/ 

chiefly  in  England,  but  in  1879  he  established  a 
college  at  Malines,  Belgium,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Belgian  clergy,  for  the  training  of  Catholic 
organists  and  choirmasters. 

Lemmens's  organ  compositions,  some  sixty  in  all, 
are  well  known  and  much  used,  and  his  "  Ecole 
d'Orgue "  was  adopted  in  the  Brussels  and  Paris 
Conservatoires,  and  in  many  other  music  schools. 

Alphonse  Charles  Renaud  de  Vilback  (1829-84) 
was  a  native  of  Montpelier,  France,  and  became  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  executants  of  his  day  upon  the 
organ.  He  was  educated  at  the  Paris  Conservatoire, 
and  carried  off  the  Prix  de  Rome  in  1844.  On  his 
return  from  Rome  he  became  organist  of  the  church 
of  St.  Eugene,  Paris,  where  he  rivalled  Lefebure- 
Wely  in  improvisation,  and  equalled  him  in  execu- 
tion. This  position  he  held  from  1855  to  187 1.  He 
died  in  Brussels  in  poor  circumstances,  having  be- 
come nearly  blind.  He  was  noted  for  his  charming 
manner  and  brilliant  conversation. 

Camille  Saint-Saens,  one  of  the  foremost  of  French 
composers,  is  also  an  organist  of  great  ability.  Born 
in  Paris  in  1835,  he  lost  his  father  at  a  very  early 
age  and  was  brought  up  by  his  mother,  and  a  great- 
aunt  who  taught  him  the  elements  of  music.  When 
seven  years  old  he  was  placed  under  Stamaty.  In 
1847  he  entered  Benoist's  class  at  the  Conserva- 
toire and  obtained  the  second  organ  prize  in   1849, 


I  68  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

and  the  first,  two  years  later.  Having  failed  to 
secure  the  Prix  de  Rome,  he  became  organist  of  the 
church  of  St.  Merri,  in  1853,  and  in  1858  was  ap- 
pointed organist  of  the  Madeleine,  where  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  talent  for  improvisation  as 
well  as  by  his  execution.  This  position  he  resigned 
in  1877,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dubois.  From  this 
time  he  has  been  occupied  chiefly  by  compositions, 
teaching,  and  concerts  ;  his  concert  tours  have  taken 
him  all  over  Europe.  His  compositions  do  not  in- 
clude anything  for  organ  solo. 

M.  Gustave  Chouquet  is  authority  for  the  following 
anecdote  concerning  the  improvising  of  Saint-Saens  : 
*'  At  a  party  where  several  eminent  musicians  were 
assembled,  some  one  begged  Schulhoff  to  play 
anything  that  came  into  his  head.  After  a  httle 
pressing  the  fascinating  pianist  sat  down  to  the 
instrument  and  began  to  prelude  in  the  bass,  when 
Saint-Saens  drew  near,  and  still  standing,  accompa- 
nied in  the  treble  the  melodies  which  Schulhoff  was 
playing.  Then  sitting  down  in  his  turn,  he  impro- 
vised upon  the  improvisation  of  his  partner  in  a 
manner  to  captivate  the  most  hypercritical  ear. 
There  was  indeed  a  slight  clashing  of  keys,  but  even 
these  double  modulations  with  contrary  resolutions 
added  to  the  interest  with  an  audience  composed 
entirely  of  practised  musicians.  It  was  a  most  ex- 
traordinary exhibition  of  this  kind  of  power." 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 69 

Clement  Francois  Theodore  Dubois,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  French  organists  of  recent  years, 
was  born  at  Rosny  (Marne)  in  1837,  and  entered 
the  Paris  Conservatoire  at  an  early  age.  His  career 
as  a  student  was  brilliant,  for  he  gained  successively 
the  first  prizes  for  harmony,  fugue,  and  organ,  and  in 
1 86 1,  under  Ambroise  Thomas,  the  Prix  de  Rome. 
On  his  return  from  Italy  he  devoted  himself  to 
teaching  and  composition,  and  produced  a  number  of 
good  works.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  professor 
of  harmony  at  the  Conservatoire;  in  1891  he  suc- 
ceeded Delibes  as  professor  of  composition,  and  in 
1896  he  succeeded  Ambroise  Thomas  as  director  of 
that  institution.  In  1894  he  was  elected  to  the 
chair  in  the  Academy  made  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Gounod. 

On  his  return  from  Italy  he  became  organist  of 
the  chapel  of  St.  Clotilde,  and  in  1877  he  replaced 
Saint-Saens  as  organist  of  the  Madeleine. 

The  compositions  of  Dubois  are  numerous,  but  of 
those  pertaining  to  the  organ  are  a  "  Fantaisie  Tri- 
omphale,"  for  orchestra  and  organ,  "  Meditatione 
Priere  "  for  strings,  oboe,  harp,  and  organ,  and  several 
pieces  for  organ  alone. 

Dubois  is  considered  to  possess  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  resources  of  his  art,  but  little  originality  or 
independence  of  style,  yet  he  has  gained  many  prizes 
and  honours.     In  1878  he  carried  off,  together  with 


170  THE    ORGAN  A  AW   ITS  MASTERS 

B.  Godard,  the  prize  at  the  Musical  Concours  in- 
stituted by  the  city  of  Paris,  for  his  "  Paradis  Perdu," 
and  in  1883  he  was  decorated  with  the  Legion  of 
Honour. 

Theodore  Cesar  Salom6  and  Charles  Alexis 
Chauvet  were  both  excellent  organists.  The  former 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1834,  and  won  the  second  Grand 
Prix  de  Rome  in  186 1.  He  became  second  organist 
of  La  Trinite  and  wrote  a  large  number  of  organ 
pieces  and  a  symphony. 

Chauvet  was  born  at  Marncs  in  1837  and  took 
first  prize  in  the  organ  class  at  the  Paris  Conserva- 
toire in  i860.  He  became  organist  of  La  Trinity  in 
1869,  but  died  two  years  later.  Chauvet  was  a 
wonderful  improviser  and  a  highly  gifted  composer 
of  organ  music. 

The  following  account  of  Guilmant  from  the  pen 
of  E.  E.  Truette,  one  of  his  pupils,  is  taken  by  per- 
mission from  the  Etude : 

"  Felix  Alexandre  Guilmant,  undoubtedly  the  most 
noted  organist  and  composer  of  organ  music  which 
France  can  claim  as  her  own,  was  born  March  12, 
1837,  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  where  his  father  was, 
for  nearly  fifty  years,  organist  at  the  church  of  St. 
Nicholas.  The  people  of  the  whole  town  worshipped 
the  venerable  form  of  the  old  man  who  for  so  long  a 
time  had  been  in  their  midst,  and  who  had  officiated 
so  many  Sundays  at  the  old  organ.     He  lived  to  the 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  171 

advanced    age   of   ninety-seven,    dying    at    Meudon 
in  1887. 

"When  but  a  small  boy  Guilmant  commenced  the 
study  of  music  with  his  father,  making  such  marvel- 
lous progress  that  at  the  early  age  of  twelve  he 
frequently  took  his  father's  post.  He  studied  har- 
mony diligently  with  Gustavo  Carulli  (son  of  a  some- 
what noted  guitarist),  who  resided  in  the  same  town. 
His  hunger  for  musical  knowledge  was  so  ravenous 
that  he  mentally  devoured  every  theoretical  work  to 
which  he  could  gain  access,  and  acquainted  himself 
with  the  compositions  of  classical  writers.  He  went 
to  the  church  daily,  where  in  solitude  he  laboured  for 
hours,  —  sometimes  for  ten  hours,  tiring  out  several 
blowers,  — perfecting  himself  in  organ-playing,  with 
such  gratifying  results  that  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  St.  Joseph's  at  the  youthful  age  of  sixteen. 

"At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  brought  out  his  first 
'Festival  Mass  in  F,'  and  other  similar  works  fol- 
lowed in  close  succession.  In  1857,  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  he  was  appointed  maitre  de  cJiapelle  at  St. 
Nicholas,  and  soon  afterward  teacher  in  the  music 
school.  He  organised  the  Orpheus  Singing  Society, 
which  became  celebrated  in  that  vicinity,  and  was  soon 
after  elected  a  member  of  the  Philharmonic  Society. 

"  On  a  trip  to  Paris  he  heard  Jacques  Lemmens,  the 
celebrated  Belgian  organist,  who  was  a  professor  in 
the  Brussels  Conservatory.     Guilmant  then  went  to 


1/2  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Brussels  and  became  the  favourite  pupil  of  Lemmens. 
Being  called  upon  frequently  to  inaugurate  new 
organs,  Guilmant  acquired  a  reputation  which  was 
far-reaching,  and  which  preceded  him  to  Paris,  to 
which  city  he  journeyed  in  1862,  when,  on  April  2, 
he  assisted  in  the  inauguration  of  the  new  famous 
organ  in  the  church  of  St.  Sulpice. 

"  His  performance  of  several  organ  numbers  was 
thus  described  by  Professor  Elwart : 

"  *  The  able  Boulogne  organist,  Guilmant,  played  in 
immediate  succession  a  "Toccata"  and  "Fugue"  of 
Bach,  "  Pastorale  "  of  Kullak,  and  several  pieces  of  his 
own  composition,  among  them  a  "  Communion,"  which 
was  preeminently  distinguished  by  deep  feeling. 
Finally,  the  young  artist,  a  pupil  of  his  father  and  of 
the  celebrated  Lemmens,  played  a  "  Grand  March," 
on  a  theme  by  Handel.  This  Cavaille-Coll  organ  is 
so  complicated  in  its  combinations  that  usually  about 
one  month  is  necessary  to  become  acquainted  with 
it  thoroughly.  A.  Guilmant  took  but  two  hours  to 
prepare  himself.  All  admired  the  spirit  and  intellect 
of  the  organist  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  after  the  concert 
he  received  the  heartiest  congratulations  of  those 
artists  whom  he  had  invited  to  attend.  It  is,  indeed, 
a  notable  thing  for  a  youthful  artist  to  have  left  his 
predilections  and  his  allotted  work  resolutely  behind 
him  and  gone  forth  to  seek  the  baptism  of  a  Parisian 
verdict  upon  his  rising  fame.' 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 73 

"In  1865  Guilmant  inaugurated  an  organ  in  the 
Carmelite  Church,  Kensington,  London,  which  was 
built  by  Cavaille-Coll.  In  this  concert  he  was  as- 
sisted by  Widor,  at  that  time  of  Lyons,  but  now 
of  Paris.  Soon  after  this  he  inaugurated  the  great 
organ  in  Notre  Dame,  Paris,  at  which  time  he  gave 
the  initial  performance  of  that  masterpiece,  which 
was  specially  composed  for  this  occasion,  namely : 
'Marche  Fun^bre  et  Chant  Seraphique.'  This 
composition  opened  the  eyes  of  the  French  organists 
to  the  resources  of  a  modern  organ  for  producing 
varied  effects  and  tone-colours,  and  created  a  sensa- 
tion. Guilmant  thus  achieved  a  complete  triumph 
in  Paris  before  establishing  himself  in  that  city,  and 
in  1 87 1,  when  he  was  called  to  take  the  post  of 
organist  at  La  Trinity,  at  the  death  of  Chauvet,  he 
had  an  enviable  reputation.  This  reputation  rapidly 
spread  in  foreign  countries,  particularly  in  England, 
whither  he  journeyed  frequently  for  various  concert 
engagements.  He  went  to  Rome  and  opened  the 
new  organ  built  by  Merklin  in  the  church  of  St. 
Louis  des  Frangais,  giving  daily  concerts  for  two 
weeks,  during  which  time  many  of  the  organ  works 
of  Bach  and  Handel  were  heard  for  the  first  time  in 
Italy.  During  this  visit  Pope  Leo  XIII.  decorated 
him  a  Commander  of  the  Order  of  St.  Gregory  the 
Great.  He  went  to  Riga,  Russia,  and  gave  a  series 
of  concerts  on  Walcker's  great  organ,  at  that  time, 


1/4  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  until  the  construction  of  the  Sydney  organ,  the 
largest  organ  in  the  world. 

"  During  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  Guilmant  in- 
augurated his  famous  series  of  organ  recitals  in  the 
hall  of  the  Trocadero,  in  which  many  of  the  organ 
works  of  Bach  and  Handel  have  been  performed  for 
the  first  time  in  Paris.  Some  years  afterward  he 
secured  the  cooperation  of  Colonne's  orchestra,  giving 
the  concertos  of  Bach  and  Handel  with  orchestral 
accompaniment.  For  twenty  years  or  more  he  made 
annual,  and  oftentimes  semi-annual,  trips  to  England 
for  concerts.  In  1890  he  played  at  St.  George's 
Chapel,  Windsor,  at  the  request  of  the  queen,  who 
was  charmed  with  his  marvellous  skill  in  improvising. 
In  1893  he  received  the  decoration  of  a  Chevalier 
de  la  Legion  d'Honneur. 

"  Guilmant  has  made  two  concert  tours  in  the 
United  States,  playing  in  all  the  principal  cities, 
always  with  the  greatest  success.  On  the  first  of 
these  tours  he  gave  several  concerts  at  the  World's 
Fair,  Chicago. 

"  In  1902  M.  Alexandre  Guilmant,  for  so  many 
years  organist  of  La  Trinity,  Paris,  resigned.  For 
several  years  the  relations  between  the  cur6  and  the 
organist  have  been  strained,  and  at  last  ended  in  the 
organist's  resigning.  M.  Ch.  Quef  was  appointed 
to  the  position. 

"  Guilmant  has  been  one  of  the  most  prolific  com- 


Copyright,  IS'.ii;,  by  A.  Dii|n.nt 

ALEXANDRE    GUILMAXT 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 75 

posers  of  organ  music  since  the  time  of  Bach,  his 
works  being  not  only  numerous,  but  of  widely  vary- 
ing character.  His  first  '  Sonata  in  D-minor,'  stands 
preeminent  among  his  compositions.  This  work, 
though  first  appearing  for  organ  alone,  was  conceived 
for  organ  and  orchestra,  but  the  opportunities  for 
its  performance  as  such  being  rare  at  that  time,  he 
wisely  published  the  \/ork  first  as  a  sonata  for  organ 
alone,  and  some  years  afterward  as  a  symphony  for 
organ  and  orchestra.  He  has  since  published  five 
other  sonatas,  but  none  of  the  later  ones  compare 
with  the  first  one  in  originality,  breadth  of  conception, 
and  unity  of  construction.  Lack  of  space  forbids,  at 
the  present  moment,  extended  notice  of  all  the  organ 
compositions  of  Guilmant,  but  a  glance  at  his  '  Air 
and  Variations,'  *  Marche  Funebre  et  Chant  Sera- 
phique,'  'Marche  Religieuse,'  'Fugue  in  D,'  'First 
Meditation,'  'Lamentation,'  and  'Scherzo  Sympho- 
nique '  will  prove  the  versatility  of  the  composer. 

"  Guilmant's  unique  skill  in  improvising  on  one  or 
more  given  themes  brought  forth  storms  of  applause 
at  all  his  concerts  in  this  country,  and  has  always 
been  one  of  his  special  characteristics.  For  years 
Guilmant  gave  most  of  his  organ  lessons  on  the  small 
one-manual  organ  in  his  studio  in  Rue  de  Clichy,  but 
he  has  now  a  fine  three-manual  organ  at  his  home  in 
Meudon,  near  Paris. 

"As  an  instructor  Guilmant  is  quite  unlike  all  other 


176  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

organ-teachers,  in  the  extremely  close  attention  which 
he  gives  to  minute  details,  and  especially  to  phrasing, 
accentuation,  rests,  dotted  notes,  etc.,  and  it  is  this 
same  attention  to  details  that  characterises  his  public 
performances.  His  innate  modesty  and  unassuming 
manner  at  all  times  have  won  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  all  classes  of  musicians." 

Eugene  Gigout,  a  native  of  Nancy  (1844)  is  a 
modern  French  organ  virtuoso  who  has  won  fame 
throughout  Europe  by  his  playing  and  his  composi- 
tions. At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  entered  the  Neider- 
meyer  School  at  Paris,  in  which  he  studied  and 
taught  for  over  twenty  years.  In  1863  he  was  ap- 
pointed organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Augustin,  and 
in  1885  he  founded  an  organ  school  in  Paris  which 
was  subsidised  by  the  government.  He  was  also 
appointed  an  officer  of  public  instruction  in  1885, 
and  has  been  decorated  with  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
He  has  published  a  number  of  organ  pieces,  and  is 
noted  for  his  adherence  to  the  severe  style. 

Gabriel  Urbain  Faure,  born  at  Pamiers,  Ariege, 
France,  in  1845,  studied  in  Paris  under  Neidermeyer, 
Dietsch,  and  Saint-Saens.  He  was  appointed,  in 
1866,  organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Sauveur  at  Rennes. 
In  1870  he  returned  to  Paris  to  fill  the  position  of 
accompanying  organist  at  St.  Sulpice.  He  was  then 
for  a  time  principal  organist  at  St.  Honors,  and  later 
became  chapel-master  at   the  Madeleine,  being   ap- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  Ijy 

pointed  organist  of  that  church  in  1896,  in  which 
year  he  also  became  professor  of  composition,  coun- 
terpoint, and  fugue  at  the  Conservatoire,  where  he 
succeeded  Massenet. 

Faure  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  French  com- 
posers, but  has  contributed  nothing  to  the  hterature 
of  the  organ. 

Another  eminent  French  organist  and  composer 
is  Charles  Marie  Widor,  born  in  1845,  at  Lyons, 
where  his  father  was  organist  of  the  church  of  St. 
Francois.  After  preliminary  study  at  home  he  was 
sent  to  Belgium,  where  he  became  a  pupil  of  Lem- 
mens  on  the  organ  and  Fetis  for  composition.  Re- 
turning to  France,  he  succeeded  his  father  at  St. 
Fran9ois  in  i860,  and  in  1869,  having  gained  a  high 
reputation  by  his  concerts  in  various  cities,  he  was 
appointed  organist  at  St.  Sulpice,  Paris.  In  1890, 
he  succeeded  Cesar  Franck  as  professor  of  organ- 
playing  at  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  and  in  1896  he 
replaced  Dubois  as  professor  of  counterpoint,  fugue, 
and  composition. 

Widor  is  an  excellent  player  and  skilful  improviser, 
and  has  added  some  valuable  works  to  organ  litera- 
ture, notably  his  "  Symphony  Gotique,"  and  nine 
other  symphonies  or  sonatas.  His  works  show  grace 
and  distinction,  and  are  free  from  vulgarity,  qualities 
which  appeal  both  to  the  public  and  the  select  few. 

The  playing  of  Dubois,  Guilmant,  and  Widor  has 


178  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

been  compared  by  an  American  resident  in  Paris  ; 
"Dubois  plays  more  nervously  than  Guilmant,  less 
happily  than  Widor,  more  rigidly  than  either, 
Dubois  moves  his  pedals  with  the  balls  of  small, 
short  feet,  Guilmant,  with  the  toes  of  long,  narrow 
ones.     Widor  glides  over  them  as  in  dancing." 

The  original  organ  of  St.  Sulpice  was  built  by  the 
celebrated  Cliquot,  and  was  completed  in  1781.  Sev- 
eral changes  were  made,  and  some  parts  of  the  instru- 
ment were  reconstructed  in  the  following  years.  In 
1857  Cavaille-Coll  began  a  thorough  remodelling  and 
enlarging  of  this  organ,  and,  when  it  was  reopened 
on  April  29,  1862,  by  Lefebure-Wely,  the  organist 
of  the  church,  it  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
celebrated  in  the  world ;  and  even  to-day  it  holds  its 
own  at  the  head  of  French  organs.  Owing  to  the 
limited  space  which  was  available,  Cavaille-Coll  was 
obliged  to  construct  the  organ  in  seven  distinct 
stories,  the  third,  fifth,  and  seventh  containing  the 
wind-chests  and  pipes,  while  all  the  mechanism  and 
reservoirs  were  located  in  the  intervening  stories. 

Six  large  reservoirs,  fed  by  five  huge  feeders, 
capable  of  supplying  over  a  thousand  cubic  feet  of 
wind  per  minute,  distribute  the  wind  to  the  numerous 
wind-chests,  by  means  of  thirty  regulating  reservoirs, 
having  numerous  degrees  of  pressure.  This  organ  is 
composed  of  five  manuals  and  pedals,  one  hundred 
speaking  stops,  mechanical  registers,  twenty  combina- 


THE   ORGAN    OF    ST.    SULPICE,    PARIS,    FRAN'CE 


/ 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


179 


tion-pedals,  ten  adjustable  combination-stops,  and  six 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  six  pipes. 

The  console  is  reversed,  and  the  tiers  of  draw-stops 
are  arranged  to  form  a  semicncle  with  the  manuals,  thus 
bringing  all  the  knobs  within  easy  access  of  the  per- 
former. A  liberal  use  of  the  pneumatic  lever  is  made 
throughout  the  organ.    Appended  is  the  specification  : 


I.  Grand  Chorus  (13  Stops). 


Salicional 


ft.      Basson 16      ft. 


Octave 4       " 

Grosse  Fourniture  .     .  IV.  rks. 

Grosse  Cymbale .     .     .  VI.  " 

Plein  Jeu IV.  " 

Cornet V.  " 


Premiere  Trompette 
Second  Trompette  . 

Basson 

Clarion 

Clarion  Doublette   . 


8 
8 
8 

4 
2 


Bombarde 


16      ft. 


II.  Great  Organ  (13  Stops). 


Prin.  Harmonique 
Montre  .  .  .  . 
Bourdon  .  .  . 
Flute  Conique 
Flute  Harmonique 
Flute  Traversiere 
Montre     .     .     .     . 


32,  16 

16 

16 

16 

8 

8 


ft.  Bourdon 8 

"  Diapason 8 

"  Flute  a  Pavilion     ...  8 

"  Prestant 4 

"  Grosse  Quinte  .     .     .     .  5^^ 

"  Doublette 2 


ft- 


III.  Bombarde  (20  Stops). 


Soubasse  .  .  . 
Flfite  Conique  . 
Principal 
FKite  Harmonique 
Bourdon  .  . 
Gambe  .  .  . 
Violoncelle  .  . 
Keraulophone  . 
Flflte  Octaviante 
Prestant        .     . 


•     5^  ft. 


16  ft.  Grosse  Quinte 

16  "  Grosse  Tierce    .     . 

8  "  Quinte 2f    " 

8  "  Octave 4      " 

8  "  Octavin 2      " 

8  "  Cornet V.  rks 

8  "  Bombarde 16     ft 

8  "  Baryton 8      " 

4  »  Trompette 8      " 

4  "  Clarion 4      " 


i8o 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 


IV.  Choir  Organ  (20  Stops). 


Violon  Basse     . 
Quintaton     .     . 
Quintaton     .     . 
Flute  Traversiere 
Salicional 
Viole  de  Gambe 
Unda  Maris 
Flute  Deuce 
Flute  Octaviante 
Dulciana       .     . 


16 

ft. 

16 

t( 

8 

t( 

8 

(( 

8 

t( 

8 

(( 

8 

<t 

4 

<t 

4 

(( 

4 

ti 

Quinte 2|  ft. 

Doublette 2  " 

Plein  Jeu  Ilarmonique  y-d  " 

Tierce if  " 

Larigot '}  " 

Piccolo I  " 

Euphone 16  " 

Trompette 8  " 

Clarinette 8  " 

Clarion 4  " 


V.  Swell  Organ  (22  Stops). 


Quintaton 16  ft. 

Bourdon        8  " 

Flute  Harmonique     .     .  8  " 

Violoncelle 8  " 

Voix  Celeste     ....  8  " 

Prestant 4  " 

Flute  Octaviante  .     .     .  4  " 

Dulciana 4  " 

Nazard 2f  " 

Doublette 2  " 

Octavin 2  " 


Fourniture    . 
Cymbale 
Cornet     .     . 
Bombarde    . 
Cor.  Anglais 
Trompette    . 
Trompette  Har.    . 
Basson  et  Hautbois 
Cromorne     .     . 
Voix  Humaine 
Clarion     .... 


IV.  rks. 

V.  " 

V.  " 

16  ft. 

16  " 

8  " 

8  " 

8  " 

8  " 

16  " 

4  " 


Principal  Basse      .     . 

Contre  Basse     ....  16 

Soubasse 16 

Fmte 8 

Violoncelle 8 

Flfite 4 


Pedal  Organ  (12  Stops). 

.  32     ft.       Contre  Bombarde 


32     ft. 


Bombarde 16 

Basson 16 

Trompette 8 

Ophicleide 8 

Clarion 4 


Pedal  Movements. 

1.  Orage  (Storm  Pedal).  5.  Sub.  Octave,  Gr.  Ch. 

2.  Coupler,  Gr.  Ch.  to  Ped.  6.  Sub.  Octave,  Gt. 

3.  Coupler,  Gt.  to  Ped.  7.  Sub.  Octave,  Bombarde. 

4.  Ventil  Pedal  (Reeds).  8.  Sub.  Octave,  Ch. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  l8l 

9.  Sub.  Octave,  Sw.  15.  Coupler,  Gt.  to  I. 

10.  Bombarde  Ventil  (Reeds).  16.  Coupler,  Bonibarde  to  I. 

11.  Choir  Ventil  (Reeds).  17.  Coupler,  Ch.  to  I. 

12.  Great  Ventil  (Reeds).  18.  Coupler,  Sw.  to  I. 

13.  Swell  Ventil  (Reeds).  19.  Tremolo. 

14.  Coupler,  Gr.Ch.  to  I.  Manual.  20.  Swell  pedal. 

Cesar  Auguste  Franck,  a  native  of  Liege  and  a 
pupil  of  Liege  Conservatoire,  is  better  known  by  his 
compositions  than  as  an  organist.  Leaving  Liege  in 
1837,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  entered  the  Conser- 
vatoire, and  in  the  following  year  took  first  prize  in 
pianoforte  and  second  prize  for  composition.  In 
Paris  he  was  a  pupil  (for  organ)  of  Benoist,  whom  he 
succeeded  at  the  Conservatoire  as  professor  of  organ- 
playing  and  as  organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Clothilde 
in  1872.      He  died  at  Paris  in  1890. 

At  the  time  of  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878  Ce'sar 
Franck,  in  common  with  other  organists,  played  at 
the  Trocadero.  At  these  recitals  he  gave  six  pieces 
for  organ,  a  "  Fantaisie  Cantabile  "  and  "  Pi^ce  Hero- 
ique."  Franck  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  saint  of 
French  music  :  "A  real  saint  in  music,  a  Bach  French 
and  modern,  an  ascetic  who  has  united  with  divine 
sanctity  all  the  tenderness  of  human  sympathy  and 
grace.  By  the  authority  of  his  musical  example  he  has 
dispensed  about  him  the  grandeur,  love,  taste,  and 
sense  of  a  strong  and  substantial  music  school." 

Franck  was  succeeded  at  St.  Clothilde  by  Henri 
Constant  Gabriel  Pierne,  who  was  born  at  Metz  in 


1 82  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

1863.  Piern6  became  a  student  at  the  Paris  Con- 
servatoire and  a  pupil  of  Marmontel,  Franck,  and 
Massenet.  He  won  the  first  prize  for  pianoforte- play- 
ing in  1879,  for  counterpoint  and  fugue  in  1881,  and 
for  organ  in  1882,  besides  which  he  gained  the  Grand 
Prix  de  Rome. 

Fernand  de  la  Tombelle  is  one  of  the  best  known 
French  organists  and  composers  of  organ  music.  He 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1854,  and  received  his  first  les- 
sons from  his  mother,  but  his  musical  education  did  not 
begin  in  earnest  until  after  he  had  finished  his  college 
course.  Then  he  became  a  pupil  of  Guilmant  on  the 
organ  and  studied  counterpoint  and  fugue  with  Dubois. 
His  compositions  gained  for  him  several  prizes,  and  his 
collection  of  organ  pieces,  which  is  his  most  impor- 
tant work,  built  up  his  reputation  in  England  and 
America. 

M.  Tombelle  is  an  excellent  improviser  and  a 
fluent  player  upon  the  organ,  but  he  has  devoted 
most  of  his  time  to  composition,  and  does  not  pre- 
tend to  be  a  virtuoso. 

Henri  Paul  Riisser,  born  at  Toulouse  in  1872,  is 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  the  younger  generation 
of  French  organists.  After  early  study  at  Toulouse, 
he  went  to  the  Niedermeyer  School  at  Paris,  and 
later  he  studied  at  the  Conservatoire.  In  1892  he 
was  appointed  organist  at  St.  Cloud.  In  the  same 
year  he  took  the  second  Grand  Prix  de  Rome,  and  in 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 83 

the  following  year  he  took  the  Grand  Prix  de  Rome 
with  his  cantata  "Antigone." 

Of  modern  Belgian  organists  may  be  mentioned 
Mailly,  Tilborghs,  and  Callaerts.  Of  these,  Alphonse 
J.  E.  Mailly  is  best  known  as  a  virtuoso.  Born  at 
Brussels  in  1833,  he  was  educated  at  the  Conserva- 
toire in  his  native  city,  where  he  became  professor  of 
pianoforte  in  1861  and  of  organ  in  1868.  He  has 
given  many  organ  concerts  in  France,  Holland,  and 
England,  and  has  written  some  sonatas,  fantasias, 
and  other  pieces  for  the  organ. 

Joseph  Tilborghs  was  born  at  Nieuwmoer  in  1830, 
was  a  pupil  of  Lemmens  and  Fetis  at  the  Brussels 
Conservatoire,  and  became  professor  of  organ-playing 
at  the  Ghent  Conservatoire  in  1882.  He  has  written 
some  organ  pieces  and  motets  with  organ  accompani- 
ment. 

Joseph  Callaerts  was  a  native  of  Antwerp  (1838), 
and  a  pupil  of  Lemmens  at  Brussels.  He  was  organ- 
ist of  the  Jesuit  College  from  185  i  to  1856,  and  later 
of  the  cathedral  at  Antwerp,  also  organ-teacher  at 
the  music  school  since  1867. 

Since  the  early  days  of  Italian  supremacy  in  organ- 
playing,  when  the  German  and  Flemish  organists 
journeyed  to  Italy  to  learn  of  Gabrieli  and  the  other 
great  organists,  organ-playing  in  that  country  has 
fallen  into  a  low  condition.  There  are  in  Italy  few 
good  organs  and  few  good  organists.    For  many  years 


184  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

the  successors  of  the  great  organists  left  unde- 
veloped the  modern  style  of  playing.  The  organists 
took  but  little  interest  in  their  organs,  regarding 
them  merely  as  instruments  for  the  accompaniment 
of  the  voice,  and  the  organ-builders  had  but  little 
incentive  to  use  their  best  efforts.  In  many  of 
the  organs  the  stops  are  divided  as  in  a  reed  organ, 
and  the  pedal-boards  are  deficient,  being  of  only  an 
octave  and  a  half,  and  the  pedals  themselves  too 
short. 

As  recently  as  1886,  when  Guilmant  visited  Italy, 
he  played  Bach  fugues  upon  these  instruments,  to  the 
great  astonishment  of  the  native  organists. 

In  recent  years  a  few  good  organists  have  used 
their  utmost  efforts  to  bring  back  the  art  of  organ- 
playing  to  its  ancient  preeminence  in  Italy.  Of 
these  the  most  prominent  are  Filippo  Capocci  of 
Rome,  and  Enrico  Bossi  at  Venice,  both  of  them 
good  composers  for  their  instrument.  The  best 
organ  in  Italy  is  that  at  the  church  of  St.  John 
Lateran,  where  Capocci  plays. 

The  name  of  Capocci  is  first  among  modern  Italian 
organists.  But  there  have  been  two  eminent  men  of 
that  name.  The  first,  Gaetano,  was  a  native  of 
Rome,  born  in  18 11.  He  became  a  pupil  of  Sante 
Pascoli,  was  appointed  organist  at  the  church  of 
S.  Maria  di  Vallicella,  and  in  1839  ^^'^s  made  or- 
ganist at  S.   Maria  Maggiore.     In   1855   he  became 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 85 

maestro  direttore  of  the  "  Capella  Mia  "  at  the  Lateran. 
He  died  in  1898. 

One  of  his  best  pupils  was  his  son  Filippo,  who  was 
born  at  Rome  in  1840,  and  who  has  since  1875  been 
organist  at  St.  John  Lateran.  He  is  not  only  an  ex- 
cellent organist,  but  a  good  composer  of  organ  music. 

Marco  Enrico  Bossi  was  born  at  Salo,  Brescia,  in 
1 86 1.  He  was  a  pupil  of  his  father  (organist  at 
Morbcgno),  and  later  of  Fumagalli,  for  organ,  besides 
other  noted  musicians  for  piano  and  theoretical 
branches. 

From  1 88 1  to  1891  Bossi  was  organist  and  chapel- 
master  at  Como  Cathedral,  and  after  that  he  was 
professor  of  organ  and  harmony  at  the  Royal  Con- 
servatory, San  Pietro  a  Majella,  at  Naples.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1896,  he  became  director  of,  and  professor  of 
advanced  composition  and  organ  in,  the  Liceo  Bene- 
detto Marcello,  at  Venice. 

He  is  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  one  of  the  very 
best  organists  of  Italy  at  the  present  day,  his  name 
being  coupled  with  that  of  Capocci,  who  is  an  older 
musician. 

As  a  composer  Bossi  is  very  prolific,  having  written 
considerably  over  one  hundred  works.  Much  of  this 
music  is  for  choir  and  organ,  some  for  strings,  or- 
chestra, etc.,  but  for  organ  he  has  also  written  a  large 
amount,  including  concertos,  sonatas,  and  almost  every 
form  of  organ  composition. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ENGLISH    ORGANISTS 

Although  he  was  born  in  the  year  1800  (Decem- 
ber 27),  and  the  nineteenth  century  did  not  begin, 
strictly  speaking,  until  1801,  yet  Sir  John  Goss  may 
be  considered  as  the  first  English  organist  of  emi- 
nence born  in  the  nineteenth  century.  He  was  the 
son  of  an  organist  of  Fareham,  Hants,  and  became 
one  of  the  children  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  afterward 
becoming  a  pupil  of  Attwood,  whom  he  eventually 
succeeded  as  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  This 
position  he  held  actually  for  thirty-four  years,  and 
nominally  for  forty-two,  for  when  he  retired  from 
active  service  he  retained  the  title  and  salary  of  the 
office. 

Goss  was  considered  the  greatest  church  musician 
of  his  day,  and  was,  in  1856,  appointed  composer  to 
the  Chapel  Royal.  In  this  capacity  it  fell  to  his  lot 
to  compose  the  music  for  the  thanksgiving  service 
for  the  recovery  of  King  Edward,  then  Prince  of 
Wales,  from  his  severe  illness   (1872,)  and  this  was 

186 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  1 8/ 

made  the  occasion  for  conferring  upon  him  the  honour 
of  knighthood. 

Goss  was  for  many  years  a  teacher  at  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Music.  He  wrote  some  fine  anthems,  a 
book  on  harmony,  and  other  works,  and  pubhshed 
"  The  Organist's  Companion,"  a  series  of  voluntaries, 
interludes,  and  other  works.  He  died  in  1880, 
honoured  and  respected  for  his  ability,  his  sincerity, 
his  modesty,  and  kind  and  gentle  disposition, 

Henry  John  Gauntlett,  native  of  Wellington,  Salop 
(1806-76),  became  organist,  at  the  age  of  nine,  of 
the  parish  church  of  Olney,  Bucks,  to  which  living 
his  father  (a  clergyman)  had  been  appointed.  He 
showed  an  aptitude  for  music,  and  especially  for  organ- 
playing,  at  a  very  early  age.  In  1826  he  was  articled 
to  a  solicitor,  and  for  some  years  was  in  active  prac- 
tice in  London.  In  1827  he  obtained  the  post  of 
organist  of  St.  Olave's,  Southwark,  and  he  continued 
the  study  of  music  together  with  that  of  law.  About 
1836,  after  he  had  obtained  a  high  reputation  as  an 
organist,  Gauntlett  began  to  advocate  a  reform  in 
organ-building  by  the  adoption  of  the  C  organ  in  the 
place  of  the  old  F  and  G  instruments.  In  this  he 
found  a  strong  supporter  in  William  Hill,  the  organ- 
builder,  and  together,  under  the  supervision  of  Gaunt- 
lett, many  fine  organs  of  the  new  style  were  built  and 
the  reform  firmly  established  in  England. 

About   1842  Doctor  Gauntlett  (whose  degree  had 


1 88  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

been  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury) gave  up  the  practice  of  law  and  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  music.  He  became  a  lecturer, 
critic,  and  reviewer,  and  edited  and  published  many 
of  the  works  of  Bach,  Beethoven,  etc. 

He  was  selected  by  Mendelssohn  to  play  the  organ 
part  in  his  oratorio  "  Elijah,"  when  it  was  produced 
at  Birmingham,  in  1846.  During  his  career  he  held 
various  positions  as  organist,  but  he  will  be  best 
remembered  as  a  composer  and  editor  of  psalm  and 
hymn  tunes,  in  which  field  he  worked  with  great 
enthusiasm  for  over  forty  years.  He  died  suddenly 
in  1876. 

Henry  Smart  (1813-79)  was  an  exceptionally 
fine  organist  and  a  writer  of  good  ability  for  the 
organ.  He  was  born  in  London  and  was  educated 
for  the  law,  but  preferred  music,  and  in  1831  received 
his  first  appointment  as  organist  of  the  parish  church 
of  Blackburn,  Lancashire.  Five  years  later  he  se- 
cured a  London  position,  and  eventually  became  or- 
ganist at  St.  Pancras  Church.  He  was  an  excellent 
player,  was  considered  particularly  able  as  an  accom- 
panist in  the  service,  and  was  also  a  splendid  impro- 
vises About  1864  he  became  blind,  and  after  that 
time  all  his  compositions  had  to  be  dictated  to  an 
amanuensis.  Shortly  before  his  death  in  1879,  the 
government  granted  him  a  pension  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  services  in  the  cause  of  music. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 89 

Henry  Smart  was  the  nephew  of  Sir  George  Smart, 
who  was  a  good  organist,  having  been  one  of  the 
organists  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  But  Sir  George 
Smart  was  better  known  as  an  organiser  and  con- 
ductor of  festivals,  in  which  capacity  he  introduced 
to  the  British  public  Mendelssohn's  "  Mount  of 
Olives,"  in  18 14,  and  "St.  Paul,"  in  1836  at  the 
Liverpool  Festival. 

Sir  George  Smart  was  also  celebrated  as  a  teacher 
of  singing,  and  was  much  sought  by  those  who 
desired  to  acquire  the  traditional  style  of  interpret- 
ing Handel.  Amongst  these  singers  were  Henri- 
etta Sontag  and  Jenny  Lind.  Sir  George  Smart 
taught  singing  until  he  was  more  than  eighty  years 
of  age,  but  lived  until  he  was  ninety-one.  He  died 
in  1867. 

Edward  John  Hopkins  was  known  as  the  father  of 
English  organists.  He  was  born  in  18 18  in  West- 
minster, and  came  of  a  musical  family,  many  mem- 
bers of  which  were  eminent  in  different  branches  of 
the  profession.  Two  brothers  of  Edward,  viz.,  John 
and  Thomas,  became  organists,  the  former  holding 
the  position  at  Rochester  Cathedral,  and  the  latter, 
who  died  in  1883,  being  organist  at  St.  Saviour's 
Church,  York,  —  and  both  were  very  fine  extempore 
players. 

E.  J.  Hopkins  began  his  musical  career  as  one  of 
the  children  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  at  the  age  of  eight, 


190  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  he  was  such  a  good  reader,  and  had  such  a  re- 
markable voice,  that  he  was  made  to  do  double  duty 
at  the  Chapel  Royal  and  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  singing 
at  four  services  a  day. 

The  first  state  function  in  which  he  participated 
was  the  coronation  of  William  IV.,  and  the  last  the 
Diamond  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria.  When  fifteen 
years  old  he  left  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  being  on  very 
good  terms  with  James  Turle,  who  was  organist  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  with  two  of  the  leading 
organ-builders,  he  applied  himself  vigorously  to  ob- 
taining a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  instrument. 
He  was  entirely  self-taught,  and  Turle  used  fre- 
quently to  allow  him  to  play  parts  of  the  service.  It 
was  through  Turle's  kindly  interest  that  he  was 
elected,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  to  be  organist  of  the 
parish  church  at  Mitcham,  eight  miles  from  London. 
The  committee  hesitated  to  appoint  one  so  young, 
and  Turle  sent  his  compliments  to  them  and  said, 
"  If  they  are  afraid  to  trust  Hopkins  to  accompany 
hymns  and  chants  in  Mitcham  Church,  Mr.  Turle 
does  not  hesitate  to  entrust  him  to  play  services  in 
Westminster  Abbey."  That  settled  the  question, 
and  Hopkins  was  appointed  with  a  salary  of  forty 
guineas  a  year. 

After  four  years  of  duty  at  Mitcham,  Hopkins  was 
invited  to  open  the  new  organ  at  St.  Peter's,  Isling- 
ton, and  was  afterward  offered  the  position  of  organ- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  I9I 

ist,  which  he  accepted,  but  m  1841,  wishing  to  be 
nearer  home,  he  accepted  the  appointment  to  St. 
Luke's,  Berwick  Street,  Soho,  where  he  remained 
for  two  years.  Then  began  the  long  and  notable 
career  at  the  Temple  Church,  which  covered  a  period 
of  nearly  sixty  years. 

The  contest  for  the  appointment  lay  between  Hop- 
kins and  George  Cooper,  and  it  was  decided  in  favour 
of  Hopkins  because  his  rector,  objecting  to  his  ab- 
sence during  the  probationary  period  at  the  Temple, 
discharged  him.  The  benchers  found  the  two  candi- 
dates about  equal  in  merit,  but  felt  that  as  Hopkins 
had  lost  his  position  on  their  account,  he  should  get 
the  post.     Hopkins  was  then  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

Of  Doctor  Hopkins's  playing  it  is  needless  to  say 
much  here.  During  his  long  service  his  fame  spread 
far  and  wide.  He  was  admirable  as  an  accompanist 
and  as  an  extempore  player.  The  Temple  Church 
became  a  Mecca  for  all  young  organists,  and  many 
were  the  pupils  who  benefited  by  his  instruction. 

Doctor  Hopkins  was  connected  with  many  institu- 
tions, and  the  composer  of  a  number  of  excellent 
anthems.  He  was  not  a  prolific  composer  for  the 
organ,  but  his  pieces  and  arrangements  maintain  a 
high  standard  of  excellence.  His  book,  "  The  Organ  ; 
Its  History  and  Construction,"  in  which  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  Doctor  Rimbault,  has  long  been  the  stan- 
dard work  upon  the  subject,  and  his  contributions  to 


192  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Grove's  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musicians  are  inval- 
uable. 

Doctor  Hopkins  died  early  in  1901. 

George  Cooper,  who  was  considered  one  of  the 
best  organists  of  his  day  in  England,  was  the  son 
of  the  assistant  organist  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
and  was  born  at  Lambeth,  in  1820.  His  quickness 
of  ear,  readiness  of  execution,  and  taste  for  good 
music  developed  themselves  very  early,  and  when  he 
was  eleven  years  of  age,  he  often  played  the  services 
at  St.  Paul's  for  his  father.  At  the  festivals  of  the 
Sons  of  the  Clergy,  Attwood,  who  was  then  chief 
organist,  delighted  to  make  him  extemporise,  and  on 
one  such  occasion  Mendelssohn,  who  was  present, 
is  said  to  have  remarked  upon  his  talent  and  to  have 
praised  him.  When  he  was  a  little  over  thirteen 
years  of  age  he  was  made  organist  of  the  church  of 
St.  Benet,  Paul's  Wharf,  London,  and  when  Attwood 
died  in  1838,  Cooper  was  appointed  assistant  organ- 
ist of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  —  the  post  formerly  held 
by  his  father,  who  resigned  in  his  favour.  Besides 
this,  he  occupied  various  positions  in  different 
churches  until,  in  1867,  on  the  death  of  Sir  George 
Smart,  he  became  organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  He 
died  in  1876. 

Cooper  was  highly  respected,  and  did  much  to 
familiarise  his  hearers  with  the  works  of  Bach  and 
other  great  composers,  which  he  played  in  a  broad 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 93 

and  noble  style.  He  did  not  leave  any  compositions, 
but  published  several  books  of  organ  music.  "  The 
Organist's  Manual,"  the  "  Organist's  Assistant," 
'•  Organ  Arrangements,"  and  "  Introduction  to  the 
Organ  "  are  all  well  known  works. 

The  name  of  Doctor  Edward  Chipp  is  one  which 
is  to  be  found  frequently  in  the  accounts  of  organ 
recitals  in  England  during  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Edmund  Thomas  Chipp  was  the 
son  of  T.  P.  Chipp,  who  was  the  player  of  the 
"Tower  Drums."  Born  in  London  on  Christmas 
Day,  1823,  he  was  educated  at  the  Chapel  Royal, 
afterward  studied  the  violin,  and  entered  the  queen's 
private  band  in  1844.  He  now  soon  became  known 
as  an  organist,  and  in  1847  succeeded  Doctor  Gaunt- 
lett  at  the  St.  Olave's  Church.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
record  Doctor  Chipp's  church  appointments,  of  which 
he  held  several  at  different  periods  ;  but  his  opportu- 
nity as  a  concert  organist  came  when  he  succeeded 
Mr,  Best  as  organist  of  the  Panopticon,  a  post  which 
he  held  until  the  close  of  that  institution.  His  next 
public  appointment  was  to  Ulster  Hall,  Belfast,  in 
1862,  and  four  years  later  he  was  called  to  Dundee, 
where  he  became  organist  of  Kinnaird  Hall.  In  the 
following  year  he  settled  down  into  the  position  of 
organist  at  Ely  Cathedral.  He  died  at  Nice  in 
1886. 

Doctor  Chipp  is  mentioned  as  having  played  in 


194  T'//^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

public,  from  memory,  Mendelssohn's  organ  sonatas,  — 
an  accomplishment  which  was  considered  remarkable. 

In  reviewing  English  organists,  it  is  impossible  to 
omit  the  name  of  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley,  for  his  skill 
in  extempore  playing  and  his  facility  in  dealing  with 
suggested  or  improvised  themes  was  most  remarkable. 
He  never  held  a  position  as  an  organist.  His  posi- 
tion in  musical  life  was  somewhat  anomalous,  for 
though  he  was  educated  for  the  Church  and  followed 
the  profession  of  a  clergyman,  and  was  regarded  as  a 
musical  amateur,  yet  he  held  for  many  years  one  of 
the  most  important  professional  posts  in  England, 
viz.,  that  of  professor  of  music  at  the  University  of 
Oxford. 

Sir  Frederick  Arthur  Gore  Ouseley  was  born  in 
London,  in  1825,  and  was  the  son  of  Sir  Gore  Ouse- 
ley, a  man  of  considerable  and  varied  attainments, 
who  for  several  years  was  British  ambassador  to  the 
Persian  court,  and  who,  being  musical,  was  one  of 
the  chief  founders  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music 
in  London. 

As  a  child  Sir  F.  Ouseley  was  considered  a  prod- 
igy, and  there  are  many  amusing  anecdotes  concern- 
ing his  deeds.  He  was  an  object  of  interest  to 
Queen  Victoria,  Mendelssohn,  Malibran,  Lablache, 
and  other  musicians  who  were  celebrated  in  the  days 
of  his  youth.  He  had  absolute  pitch  and  a  very  ob- 
serving nature.     The  deeds  of  prodigies  grow  monot- 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  195 

onous,  and  we  will  pass  over  that  period  and  come  to 
the  more  serious  business  of  his  life. 

Sir  Frederick  took  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
at  Oxford  in  1849,  and  became  curate  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Knightsbridge,  London.  In  1850  he  took 
his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Music,  resigned  his  curacy, 
and  went  to  the  Continent  to  travel,  and  to  make  a 
special  study  of  church  music  and  organs.  During 
this  tour  he  played  on  almost  every  celebrated  organ 
in  Western  Europe.  On  his  return  to  England  he 
immediately  took  steps  to  carry  out  his  great  desire, 
which  was  to  establish  a  church  in  which  the  service 
should  be  of  a  high  musical  order.  In  1856,  after 
many  difficulties  had  been  overcome,  the  college  and 
church  of  St.  Michael  and  All  Angels,  at  Tenbury, 
Worcestershire,  was  dedicated.  On  this  occasion 
Arthur  Sullivan,  then  one  of  the  children  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  sang  the  solos  in  the  newly  formed 
choir,  and  Sir  George  Elvey,  of  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  played  the  organ. 

Sir  Frederick  Ouseley  devoted  his  fortune  to  the 
maintenance  of  this  church  and  the  college,  in  which 
the  choristers  received  their  education.  It  has  been 
a  musical  nursery,  and,  at  least  during  the  life  of  its 
founder,  a  musical  centre  which  attracted  many  of 
the  rising  men.  Sir  John  Stainer  was  organist  of  St. 
Michael's  Church  for  three  years,  and  did  space  per- 
mit, a  long  list  of  well-known  names  of  those  who 


196  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

have  been  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  the 
church  might  be  produced. 

It  was,  however,  as  professor  of  music  at  Oxford 
that  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley  wielded  his  most  direct 
influence  on  the  musical  life  of  his  time,  for  in  this 
capacity  a  vast  number  of  young  men  came  under  his 
personal  supervision.  There  were  many  complaints 
in  the  profession  that  an  amateur  should  be  appointed 
to  this  professorship,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  any 
one  could  have  been  selected  who  would  have  been 
of  greater  benefit  to  the  cause  of  music.  Independ- 
ent of  the  miserable  stipend,  he  was  able  to  root  out 
many  abuses  which  had  accrued  during  years  of  mu- 
sical lethargy.  Bogus  degrees  were  stopped,  exami- 
nations became  real,  and  a  distinct  advance  was  made. 

In  addition  to  the  professorship  at  Oxford,  Sir 
Frederick  Ouseley  was  rector  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  precentor  of  Hereford  Cathedral,  and  he 
became  canon  of  Hereford  Cathedral  in  1886. 
Three  years  later  he  was  stricken  down,  in  the  midst 
of  his  labours,  by  apoplexy,  and  a  busy,  useful,  and 
noble  life  was  ended. 

Sir  Frederick  Ouseley  was  the  composer  of  much 
music,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  for  the  Church, 
though  at  the  age  of  eight  he  wrote  an  opera.  For 
the  organ  he  wrote  eighteen  preludes  and  fugues, 
three  andantes,  and  a  sonata.  His  works  on  har- 
mony, counterpoint,   musical  form,   etc.,  his  articles 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  1 97 

for  Grove's  Dictionary  are  well  known,  but  perhaps 
the  most  valuable  possession  was  the  excellent  collec- 
tion of  old  and  rare  works  and  manuscripts  which  he 
acquired  and  left  to  St.  Michael's  College.  This 
includes  the  identical  copy  of  the  score  of  the 
"Messiah"  from  which  Handel  conducted  the  first 
performance  at  Dublin  in  1742;  all  the  treatises  of 
Gafurius,  including  the  earliest  and  rarest  one,  pub- 
lished in  Naples  in  1480  ;  the  famous  "  Organ  Book  " 
of  Adrian  Batten  ;  and  very  many  more  rare  and  val- 
uable works  too  numerous  for  mention  here. 

The  organ  in  St.  Michael's  Church,  which  was  re- 
modelled several  times,  is  one  of  the  finest  instru- 
ments outside  of  cathedral  or  concert-hall.  It 
contains  four  manuals  and  sixty-four  speaking  stops. 

A  very  good  story  concerning  Doctor  Corfe,  of 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  Sir  F.  Ouseley  in  his 
student  days  was  told  by  Doctor  Stainer :  "Being 
a  musician  of  the  old  type.  Doctor  Corfe  rarely 
changed  his  stops  during  the  psalms.  Ouseley  and 
his  young  friends  got  so  accustomed  to  one  partic- 
ular quality  of  tone  that  they  named  it  the  '  Corfe- 
mixture.'  Ouseley  knew  that  Doctor  Corfe  always, 
at  the  close  of  one  service,  prepared  his  stops  for  the 
giving  out  of  the  chant  at  the  next.  Moreover,  Doc- 
tor Corfe  was  fond  of  long  walks,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  rushing  into  the  organ-loft  after  service  had 
begun   and  just  in  time  to  place  his  hands  on  the 


198  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

keys.  This  offered  a  temptation  for  the  undergrad- 
uates which  was  irresistible.  Watching  Corfe  safely 
out  of  the  cathedral  one  morning,  Ouseley  put  in 
all  the  arranged  stops,  and  then  drew  on  each  man- 
ual the  most  horrible  and  startling  combination  he 
could  think  of.  When  evening  service  commenced, 
Ouseley  and  his  friends  stood  behind  a  pillar  to  hear 
the  effect.  Just  as  the  psalms  commenced.  Doc- 
tor Corfe  hurried  in  and  placed  his  hands  on  the 
keys.  Everybody  in  the  church  gave  a  start  except 
Doctor  Corfe  himself,  who  placidly  held  down  the 
chord  while  one  by  one  he  put  in  the  objectionable 
registers,  and  gradually  drawing  his  usual  stops,  once 
more  returned  to  the  old  '  Corfe-mixture.'  " 

An  organist  who  did  much  in  the  cause  of  his  art 
was  Doctor  William  Spark,  a  native  of  Exeter  (1825- 
1897).  Spark  became  a  chorister  at  Exeter  Cathe- 
dral, where  his  father  was  a  lay  vicar.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  was  articled  to  Samuel  Sebastian  Wesley 
for  five  years.  When  Wesley  left  Exeter  for  Leeds, 
he  took  Spark  with  him,  and  the  young  man  soon 
became  deputy  organist  of  the  parish  church.  Sev- 
eral other  church  appointments  followed,  but  in 
1850,  on  Wesley's  removal  to  Winchester,  Spark 
was  appointed  his  successor  at  St.  George's  Church, 
Leeds. 

Within  a  year  of  his  appointment  Doctor  Spark 
had  organised  the  Leeds  Madrigal  and  Motet  Society. 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  199 

A  short  time  afterward  he  established  the  People's 
Concerts,  and  this  led  to  the  building  of  the  Town 
Hall.  For  the  Town  Hall  it  was  necessary  to  have 
a  fine  organ,  and  a  magnificent  instrument  was 
erected  by  Gray  and  Davison  from  the  designs  of 
Henry  Smart  and  Doctor  Spark.  This  organ  (of 
four  manuals  and  one  hundred  and  ten  stops, — one 
of  the  finest  in  the  world)  was  opened  in  1859,  ^^^ 
Doctor  Spark  was  appointed  Borough  organist,  though 
not  without  a  severe  competition.  Here  he  gave 
organ  recitals  twice  a  week. 

Doctor  Spark  was  a  man  of  great  activity,  and 
besides  some  excellent  organ  pieces  and  other  com- 
positions, he  wrote  several  books,  and  was  editor  of 
The  Orgaiiisfs  Quarterly  Jojirnal,  and  of  a  large 
number  of   Batiste's   organ   compositions. 

James  Coward,  who  for  many  years  was  organist 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  was  born  in  London,  in  1824. 
He  was  a  chorister  in  Westminster  Abbey,  afterward 
was  appointed  organist  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  Lam- 
beth, St.  George's,  Bloomsbury,  and  St.  Magnus  the 
Martyr,  in  succession.  He  was  also  organist  of  the 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  and  grand  organist  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  Masons.  He  held  the 
Crystal  Palace  appointment  from  1857  until  his 
death  in  1880. 

William  Thomas  Best  was  for  many  years  con- 
sidered  the   first  among  English   concert   organists. 


200  THE    ORGAN  AND    ITS  MASTERS 

He  was  the  son  of  a  solicitor  of  Carlisle,  and  was 
educated  with  a  view  to  becoming  an  engineer.  Mu- 
sic, however,  proved  to  be  a  stronger  attraction,  and 
he  began  to  take  lessons  of  Young,  the  organist  of 
Carlisle  Cathedral.  He  subsequently  took  some  les- 
sons of  other  organists,  but  they  were  men  of  the  old 
stamp,  and  unprogressive.  For  all  practical  purposes 
Best  was  self-taught.  He  obtained  his  first  organ 
appointment  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  at  the  Pembroke 
Road  Baptist  Chapel,  Liverpool,  where  the  organ 
possessed  the  first  CC  pedal  keyboard  in  Liverpool. 
In  1847  Best  was  appointed  organist  of  the  Church 
for  the  Blind  at  Liverpool,  and  he  was  also  organist 
of  the  LiveqDool  Philharmonic  Society,  under  whose 
auspices  he  made  his  first  appearance  as  a  concert 
organist,  in  1849. 

A  few  years  later  Best  was  in  London,  where  he 
came  prominently  before  the  public  as  organist  of 
the  Panopticon  (now  the  Alhambra),  in  Leicester 
Square,  where  a  fine  four-manual  instrument  had 
been  erected.  He  was  also  organist,  for  a  short  time 
only,  of  the  churches  of  St.  Martin-in-the-Fields,  and 
Lincoln's  Inn  Chapel.  His  London  appointments 
were  brief,  but  his  playing  of  Bach  and  other  classi- 
cal composers  attracted  much  attention  and  added 
greatly  to  his  fame.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
his  Panopticon  engagement  came  to  an  end  because 
he  refused  to  accede  to  the  request  of  the  director, 


WILLIAM    THOMAS   BEST 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  201 

that  after  the  entertainment  he  should  play  the  afl- 
dience  out  to  the  strains  of  the  "Wedding  March." 

The  brevity  of  his  London  engagement  was  soon 
compensated  for  by  his  appointment,  in  1855,  to  be 
organist  of  St.  George's  Hall,  Liverpool,  at  a  salary 
of  ^300,  which  was  afterward  increased  to  ^^400, 
This  position  he  held  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  his 
recitals  earned  for  him  a  world-wide  reputation. 

During  his  long  career  Best  held  several  church 
appointments,  but  his  chief  work  was  at  St.  George's 
Hall,  and  in  opening  numerous  organs,  of  which  the 
most  important  was  that  at  the  Albert  Hall  in  Lon- 
don, in  1 87 1.  His  appearances  at  the  Handel  Festi- 
vals on  Selection  days  were  eagerly  looked  forward 
to  by  organists,  who  used  greatly  to  enjoy  the  sang- 
froid with  which  he  would  insist  upon,  and  dog- 
gedly keep  to,  his  own  tempi  of  Handel's  organ 
concertos,  regardless  of  the  exertions  of  the  con- 
ductor in  trying  to  keep  the  band  and  the  organ 
together. 

Althoug-h  he  made  several  contributions  to  the 
literature  of  organ  music.  Best's  fame  does  not  rest 
upon  his  compositions.  His  "  Organ  Arrangements  " 
—  full  and  yet  faithful  to  the  original  score  —  are  un- 
surpassed. He  edited  Handel's  organ  concertos,  and 
Mendelssohn's  and  Bach's  organ  works.  His  "  Art 
of  Organ-Playing,"  especially  Part  H.,  "Studies  for 
the  Pedal,"  is  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  organ-student. 


202  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

He  also  edited  Handel's  "Messiah,"  in  which  he 
incorporated  Mozart's  additional  accompaniments. 

In  1880  Best  was  offered  the  choice  between 
knighthood  and  a  pension  from  the  Civil  List  of 
;^ioo  per  annum,  —  and  chose  the  latter,  as  he  dis- 
liked titles. 

In  1890  Best  went  to  Australia  and  gave  twelve 
recitals  on  the  huge  organ  in  the  Town  Hall,  Sydney, 
—  the  largest  organ  in  the  world.  In  1894,  owing  to 
continued  ill-health,  he  resigned  his  position  at  St. 
George's  Hall,  and  three  years  later  he  died. 

Away  from  the  organ,  Best  was  very  much  of  a 
recluse.  He  abhorred  social  functions,  and  repelled 
all  attempts  to  induce  him  to  associate  with  his  pro- 
fessional brethren.  He  was  a  master  of  ironical  wit, 
and  many  stories  are  current  of  his  pungent  remarks 
when  expressing  his  opinions,  which  were  as  out- 
spoken as  they  were  amusing. 

Best  had  a  number  of  pupils,  many  of  whom  be- 
came prominent,  but  during  the  later  years  of  his 
life  he  did  not  teach.  George  E.  Whiting  was  one 
of  his  most  noted  American  pupils. 

As  before  stated,  there  are  many  amusing  anec- 
dotes concerning  Best's  remarks,  and  we  may  be  for- 
given if  one  is  quoted.  This  one  was  made  in  1894, 
when  Best  was  giving  some  information  regarding 
the  introduction  of  Mendelssohn's  organ  music  into 
England.     After  explaining  how  the  younger  genera- 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  203 

tion  of  organists  adopted  the  CC  pedal-board,  which 
made  the  performance  of  Bach  and  Mendelssohn  pos- 
sible, he  continued  :  "  Adams,  with  enormous  contra- 
puntal talent,  regaled  himself  by  serving  up  one  or 
two  of  Bach's  '48,  adding  a  droning  pedal  wJien  his 
bunions  ivere  propitious. ' ' 

The  following  sketch  of  Best's  character  was  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Everett  E.  Truette,  in  the  Etude : 

"  Best  was  greatly  maligned  by  many  of  his  own 
countrymen  as  being  cross  and  testy,  disagreeable, 
and  the  like.  His  disposition  was  peculiar  and  made 
for  him  many  enemies.  He  was  a  man  of  very  strong 
ideas,  and  never  hesitated  to  give  vent  to  his  opin- 
ions, oftentimes  exaggerating  to  increase  their  force- 
fulness. 

"At  one  time  I  was  chatting  with  him  in  his 
study.  We  had  been  talking  about  organ-builders, 
and  I  casually  mentioned  the  name  of  an  English 
builder  with  whom  he  had  recently  held  a  wordy 
disagreement.  Best  burst  forth  :  '  That  man  X. 
does   not  know   how  to   build   an   organ.      Look  at 

the  organ  in  Hall !     He  put  the  solo  stops 

on  such  a  high  pressure  of  wind  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  chain  them  to  the  wind-chest  to  keep  them 
from  being  blown  out  through  the  roof.'  I  roared, 
and  he  too  burst  out  laughing.  Ten  minutes  later 
he  was  enthusing  over  the  fine  work  of  this  same 
builder  in  another  organ. 


204  "^^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

"When  I  first  wrote  to  him,  asking  if  he  would 
give  me  lessons,  he  sent  me  a  sharp  reply,  stating 
that  he  did  not  teach  at  all,  and  ended  his  letter  : 
'You  Americans  are  very  fond  of  studying  music 
in  Germany  and  afterward  coming  to  England  to 
rub  off  the  Teutonic  rust.'  I  wrote  back  that,  as 
I  had  been  studying  with  Guilmant  for  six  months 
or  so,  I  thought  the  '  Teutonic  rust '  was  about  all 
rubbed  off.  He  then  wrote  me  a  most  cordial  letter, 
inviting  me  to  visit  him,  and  sent  me  a  great  pack- 
age of  his  music.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
friendship  which  lasted  to  his  death,  and  I  have 
many  pleasant  recollections  of  long  chats  with  him, 
when,  in  spite  of  his  natural  irritability,  we  had 
many  pleasant  discussions  on  organ  topics.  I  always 
found  him  cordial,  warm-hearted,  enthusiastic,  and 
entertaining. 

"To  the  organ-student  he  is  best  known  by  his 
*  Arrangements  from  the  Scores  of  the  Great  Mas- 
ters,' in  which  he  brought  out  so  prominently  a  fea- 
ture which  was  peculiarly  his  own,  and  in  which  he 
showed  that  the  organ  is  in  itself  capable  of  repro- 
ducing orchestral  effects,  without  transcending  its 
proper  functions  or  descending  to  trickery.  This 
he  made  possible  only  by  his  complete  knowledge 
of  its  resources.  Though  he  was  the  first  and  great- 
est in  his  methods  of  reproducing  orchestral  effects, 
he  repeatedly  expressed  himself  as  believing  that  the 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  205 

organ  was  an  instrument  of  its  own  kind,  producing 
effects  that  no  orchestra  could  produce,  and  should 
be  treated  accordingly." 

This  book  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
mention  of  the  great  organ  in  the  town  hall  at  Syd- 
ney, New  South  Wales,  which  is  the  largest  organ 
in  the  world,  having  five  manuals  and  one  hundred 
and'  twenty-eight  speaking  stops.  Its  organist  too 
must  be  reckoned  among  the  celebrated  concert 
organists  of  the  world,  and  though  a  Belgian,  his 
appropriate  place  in  this  account  seems  to  be  that 
which  is  nearest  to  his  instrument. 

M.  Auguste  Wiegand  was  elected  to  fill  this 
position  in  1891,  from  amongst  one  hundred  and  five 
competitors.  Bom  at  Liege,  in  Belgium,  in  1849, 
Wiegand  had  developed  sufficient  musical  talent  by 
the  time  he  was  seven  years  of  age  to  receive  the 
appointment  of  organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Giles 
in  his  native  city.  In  the  following  year  he  began 
his  career  as  a  concert  performer,  giving  exhibitions, 
in  conjunction  with  his  sister,  as  a  pianist  and  violin- 
ist. In  1859,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Conservatoire 
at  Liege,  being  the  successful  one  of  eighteen  candi- 
dates. At  the  age  of  twelve  he  received  his  "  primus 
accessit "  for  skill  at  the  organ,  and  at  fifteen  he  was 
awarded  second  prize.  He  gained  the  first  prize  in 
1867,  and  the  silver  medal  for  organ-playing  as  well 
as  first  prize  for  piano-playing  in  the  following  year. 


206  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

The  gold  medal,  both  for  piano  and  organ  playing,  he 
received  in  1869,  also  first  prize  in  harmony,  counter- 
point, and  reading"  at  sight  from  orchestral  score. 
In  1870,  he  was  appointed  professor  at  the  Li^ge 
Conservatoire,  and  remained  there  for  six  years, 
when  he  resigned  in  order  to  devote  his  time  to  con- 
cert playing.  Wiegand  also  began  study  under 
Lemmens,  who  died  very  shortly  after.  Then  the 
Belgian  government  recognised  his  talent  by  allowing 
him  to  study  under  Alphonse  Mailly,  professor  at 
the  Royal  Conservatoire  at  Brussels,  and  organist 
to  the  King  of  Belgium.  He  was  also  appointed  a 
member  of  the  jury  of  organ  competitions. 

In  1878  M.  Wiegand  seriously  began  his  career 
as  a  concert  organist,  and  before  receiving  the  ap- 
pointment to  Sydney  he  had  given  five  hundred  and 
fifty-three  recitals  in  Holland,  Belgium,  England, 
and  France,  of  which  the  five-hundredth  v^ras  given 
on  the  great  organ  in  the  Albert  Hall,  London. 

In  Australia  M.  Wiegand  led  a  very  active  life, 
and  in  his  first  season  gave  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  recitals  on  his  great  instrument,  besides  playing 
on  organs  in  different  parts  of  the  colonies.  He 
held  his  position  until  the  beginning  of  1902. 

M.  Wiegand's  repertoire  is  immense,  and  includes 
all  the  standard  organ  works  and  a  great  number  of 
operatic  arrangements  and  music  of  a  popular  nature, 
showing  that  the  taste  of  the  people  in  Australia  is 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  207 

much  the  same  as  elsewhere  and  is  not  yet  educated 
up  to  the  strictly  legitimate  in  organ  music. 

In  regard  to  the  organ  itself,  one  or  two  re- 
markable features  may  be  noticed  in  the  following 
specifications. 

Completed  in  1890,  by  Messrs.  Hill  &  Son,  of 
London,  it  was  heralded  as  the  "  largest  and  grandest 
organ  ever  built  or  ever  to  be  built."  It  certainly  is 
a  monster,  and  undoubtedly  no  larger  organ  will  be 
attempted  for  some  time  to  come.  The  success  of 
the  instrument  from  a  musical  point  of  view  is  some- 
what doubtful.  This  gigantic  instrument  has  five 
manuals,  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  speaking  stops, 
forty-three  combination  movements  (pistons  and  ped- 
als) and  twenty-one  mechanical  accessories. 

The  chief  feature  of  the  instrument,  never  before 
attempted,  is  a  sixty-four  foot  reed-stop  in  the  pedal,  — 
con tra-trom bone,  —  a  "  striking  reed  "  of  full  length, 
with  wooden  tubes.  Inasmuch  as  the  lowest  notes 
of  a  thirty-two-foot  stop  are  hardly  distinguishable, 
—  they  QXQ  felt  more  than  heard,  —  extending  the 
compass  an  octave  lower  cannot  and  does  not  pro- 
duce a  result  to  warrant  the  outlay.  The  lowest 
note  has  only  eight  vibrations  a  second,  and  the 
distinct  vibrations  are  noticeable,  thus  preventing  a 
pure  musical  tone. 

In  the  appended  specification  it  will  be  noticed 
that  a  large  amount  of  duplication  has  been  necessary 


208 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


to  bring  the  number  of  stops  up  to  the  monster  re- 
quirements, and  that  the  redundancy  of  the  diapasons 
would  seem  otherwise  unnecessary. 

The  town  hall  is  very  large,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  six  thousand.  The  organ  is  blown  by  an  eight- 
horse-power  gas-engine.  The  instrument  cost  about 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  Several  changes  have  been 
made  since  the  organ  was  first  completed,  and  the 
accompanying  specification  shows  the  organ  as  it 
now  stands : 


Swell  Organ. 


Double  open  diapason    .  i6 

Bourdon l6 

Open  diapason ....     8 
Viol  di  gamba  ....     8 

Salicional 8 

Dulciana 8 

Vox  angelica     ....     8 

Hohl-flote 8 

Octave 4 

Gemshorn 8 

Harmonic  flute      ...     4 
Rohr-flote 4 


ft. 


Twelfth 2f  ft. 

Fifteenth 2      " 

Harmonic  piccolo .     .     .      i      " 

Mixture IV.  rks. 

Furniture V.    " 

Trombone 16    ft. 

Bassoon 16     " 

Horn 8     " 

Cornopean 8     " 

Oboe 8     " 

Clarion 4     " 

Vox  humana    ....    8     " 


Contrabourdon      .     . 

Bourdon  

Double  open  diapason 
Open  diapason  (i).  . 
Open  diapason  (2).  . 
Open  diapason  (3).  . 
Open  diapason  (4).  . 
Harmonic  flute      .     . 


Great  Organ. 

32  ft.       Viola 8 

16  "        Spitz-flote 8 

16  "        Gamba 8 

8  "        Hohl-flote 8 

8  "        Rohr-flote 8 

8  "        Quint 

8  "  Harmonic  flute      ...  4 

8  "        Principal 4 


ft. 


5i 


CONSOLE   OF    THE    ORGAN    IN    THE    TOWN    HALL, 
SYDNEY,    N.  S.  W. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


209 


Octave 4    ft. 

Gemshom 4      " 

Twelfth 2f    " 

Fifteenth 2      " 

Mixtures      ....      III.  rks. 
Cymbal IV.    « 


Sharp  mixture      .     .       IV.  rks. 
Furniture     ....         V.    " 
Contraposaune      ...  16     ft. 

Posaune 8      " 

Trumpet 8      " 

Clarion 4      " 


Solo  Organ. 


Quintaton     .     . 
Open  diapason 
Violin  diapason 
Flauto  traverse 
Doppel-flote 
Stopped  diapason 
Viola  .... 
Octave     .     .     . 
Flauto  traverso 
Harmonic  flute 


16     ft. 


8 
8 
8 
4 
4 
4 


Flauto  traverso  . 
Contrafagotto  .  . 
Cor  anglais  .  .  . 
Corno  di  bassetto 
Orchestral  oboe  . 
Harmonic  trumpet 
Octave  oboe  .  . 
Contratuba  .     .     . 

Tuba 

Tuba  clarion     .     . 


2 

16 
8 
8 
8 
8 

4 
16 

8 
4 


ft. 


Viol  d'amour  .  .  . 
Unda  maris  (II.  rks.) 
Lieblich  gedacht  .  . 
Viol  d'amour     .     .     . 


Echo  Organ. 

8     ft.      Flageolet 2     ft. 

8      "  Glockenspiel     .     .     .       IV.  rks. 

8      "  Echo  dulciana  cornet      IV.    " 

4      "       Basset  horn 8     ft. 


Contradulciana 
Open  diapason 
Gamba     .     .     . 
Dulciana .     .     . 
Flauto  traverso 
Hohl-flote     .     . 
Lieblich  gedacht 
Octave     .     .     . 
Violina     .     .     . 
Voix  celeste 


Choir  Organ. 

16  ft.  Lieblich-flote     ....  4     ft. 

8  "       Twelfth 2f    « 

8  "       Fifteenth 2      " 

8  "        Dulcet 2      " 

8  "  Dulciana  mixture .     .      III.  rks. 

8  "        Bassoon 16     ft. 

8  "       Trumpet 8      " 

4  "        Clarinet 8      " 

8  "       Oboe 8      " 

8  "  Octave  oboe      ....  4      " 


2IO  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Pedal  Organ. 

Double  open    diapason,  Violoncello 8  ft. 

wood 32     ft.      Bass  flute 8  " 

Double    open  diapason,  Twelfth Sl    " 

metal 32      "        Fifteenth 4  " 

Contrabourdon      ...  32      "        Mixture II.  rks. 

Open  diapason,  wood     .   16      "        Mixture III.  " 

Open  diapason,  metal    .16      "        Mixture IV.  " 

Violone 16      "  Contratrombone,  wood     64  ft. 

Gamba 16      "  Contraposaune,  metal    .  32  " 

Dulciana 16      "        Posaune 16  " 

Bourdon 16      "        Trombone 16  " 

Quint io|    "       Bassoon 16  '♦ 

Octave 8      "       Trumpet 8  " 

Prestant 8      "        Clarion 4  " 

8  pneumatic  combination  pistons  to  great. 


8 

<( 

(t 

"  swell. 

7 

<i 

(( 

"  choir, 

7 

c< 

« 

"  solo. 

3 

« 

« 

"  echo. 

6  combination  pedals 

to 

pedal. 

4 

(( 

(( 

great. 

Choir  tremulant. 

3  pedals  for 

pedal 

coupl 

ers. 

Sir  Herbert  Stanley  Oakeley,  an  excellent  organ- 
ist, was  born  at  Ealing,  near  London,  in  1830,  and 
educated  at  Eton  and  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford. 
He  was  a  pupil  in  harmony  of  Doctor  Stephen  Elvey, 
and  studied  the  organ  under  Schneider  in  Dresden, 
completing  his  musical  studies  at  Leipzig,  and  under 
Breidenstein  at  Bonn.  In  1865  he  was  appointed 
Reid  professor  of  music  at  Edinburgh  Univ^ersity, 
which  position  he  held  until  1891,  and  in  which  his 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  2  1 1 

successful  exertions  were  recognised  by  the  bestowal 
of  numerous  distinctions.  He  was  knighted  in  1876, 
and  received  honorary  degrees  from  many  universi- 
ties in  Great  Britain,  Canada,  and  Australia. 

Under  his  management  the  Reid  concerts  received 
a  great  impulse  and  developed  into  a  three  days' 
festival ;  the  concerts  of  the  university  musical  society 
and  his  own  excellent  organ  recitals  had  a  wide-spread 
educational  influence.  He  was  regarded  as  an  organ- 
player  of  exceptional  ability,  and  a  good  composer, 
but  only  a  few  of  his  compositions  for  organ  have 
been  published. 

One  of  the  most  highly  respected  of  English  or- 
ganists was  Doctor  George  Mursell  Garrett,  who  was 
born  at  Winchester  in  1834  and  died  at  Cambridge 
in  1897. 

Doctor  Garrett  was  a  pupil  of  Elvey  and  Wesley 
and  was  assistant  organist  at  Winchester  Cathedral 
from  185  I  to  1854,  when  he  received  the  appointment 
of  organist  at  the  cathedral  at  Madras,  which  he  held 
for  two  years.  Returning  to  England,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  and  in 
1873  he  succeeded  Doctor  Hopkins  as  organist  to 
the  university,  where  he  became  also  lecturer  on 
harmony  and  counterpoint,  and  examiner  in  music. 

Doctor  Garrett  wrote  a  number  of  pieces  for  the 
organ,  besides  an  oratorio,  five  cantatas,  and  other 
church  music. 


212  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Doctor  Edmund  Hart  Turpin  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  English  concert  organists  of  the  present 
day.  He  was  born  at  Nottingham,  in  1835,  and 
became  organist  of  a  church  in  Nottingham  at  the 
age  of  thirteen.  He  gave  his  first  organ  recital 
at  the  Hyde  Park  E.xhibition  of  185 1,  and  soon 
afterward  he  obtained  a  London  appointment.  In 
1869  he  became  organist  of  St.  George's  Church, 
Bloomsbury,  a  position  which  he  retained  until  1888, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street. 
In  the  following  year  the  degree  of  Mus.  Doc.  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Doctor  Turpin  has  been  long  connected  with  the 
musical  press  of  London,  and  was  editor  of  the 
Musical  Standard  for  some  years,  and  later  of 
the  Musical  News.  He  is  noted  as  a  lecturer, 
and  has  written  several  works,  including  some  organ 
pieces.  In  1875  he  became  Hon.  Secretary  of  the 
College  of  Organists,  to  which  institution  he  has 
devoted  much  time. 

Frederick  Archer,  who  was  considered  one  of  the 
greatest  of  organ  virtuosi,  was  born  at  Oxford,  Eng- 
land, in  1838.  His  musical  talent  first  became  man- 
ifest when  he  was  about  eight  years  of  age,  and  he 
was  soon  able  to  play  at  sight  any  composition  which 
came  within  the  range  of  his  fingers,  besides  which  he 
showed  remarkable  aptitude  for  improvising. 

At  the  age  of  nine  he  became  a  chorister  at  Mar- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  21  3 

garet  Chapel,  London,  where,  before  long,  he  was 
able  sometimes  to  officiate  as  organist,  although  he 
had  not  yet  taken  an  organ  lesson. 

On  leaving  Margaret  Chapel,  he  was  appointed 
organist  at  St.  Clement's  Church  and  at  Merton 
College,  Oxford,  holding  both  appointments  simulta- 
neously, and  a  few  years  later  he  travelled  on  the 
Continent,  giving  exhibitions  of  his  marvellous  skill 
as  a  performer.  On  his  return  to  England,  he  was 
made  organist  at  the  Panopticon  in  London,  where, 
with  a  concert  instrument  of  unusual  size  and  excel- 
lence, he  soon  distinguished  himself.  In  May,  1875, 
the  new  organ  in  Alexandra  Palace  was  completed, 
—  an  instrument  having  four  manuals  and  eighty-nine 
stops,  —  and  he  became  organist.  On  this  instru- 
ment Archer  gave  over  two  thousand  recitals,  never 
repeating  a  programme  ;  his  remarkable  power  of  sight 
reading,  either  from  orchestral  score  or  other  scores, 
made  his  repertoire  practically  inexhaustible.  He  was 
a  man  of  the  finest  physique,  and  his  appearance  be- 
fore his  instrument  was  very  imposing.  Some  of  the 
effects  which  he  produced  have  never  been  accom- 
plished by  any  other  organist,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  he  was  gifted  by  nature  with  fingers  of  unusual 
length.  This  peculiarity  gave  him  the  immense  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  play  on  two,  and  occasionally 
on  three  manuals  simultaneously,  with  the  same  hand. 
His  executive  facility,  both  with  hands  and  feet,  was 


214  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

marvellous,  and  passages  of  enormous  difficulty  and 
rapid  tempi  were  played  by  him  without  the  slightest 
apparent  effort. 

In  1880  Mr.  Archer  came  to  America,  first  settling 
in  Boston,  and  then  going  to  Brooklyn,  where  he 
became  organist  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  church, 
and  later  of  Doctor  Storr's  church  in  New  York, 
which  he  left  to  go  to  the  Church  of  Incarnation, 
He  was  also  editor  of  a  musical  journal  called  the 
Keynote. 

Leaving  New  York,  Mr.  Archer  was  for  a  time 
organist  of  the  St.  James's  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
Chicago, 

In  the  year  1896  he  accepted  the  terms  offered  by 
the  Carnegie  Library  Commission,  of  Pittsburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  became  city  organist,  and  musical  direc- 
tor of  Carnegie  Music  Hall.  His  indefatigable  energy 
and  enthusiasm  were  readily  appreciated  in  that  city, 
and  his  musical  influence  was  wide-spread.  His  organ 
recitals,  musical  lectures,  and  concerts  made  his  name 
famous  in  America, 

He  died  in  1901, 

Mr.  Archer  was  a  man  of  immense  activity,  and  it 
is  recorded  that,  after  the  rebuilding  of  the  Alexandra 
Palace,  and  the  erection  therein  of  the  new  and  mag- 
nificent organ,  he  frequently  played  to  audiences 
numbering  as  high  as  twenty  thousand.  His  duties 
as  musical  director  of  the  palace  were,  at  the  same 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  215 

time,  enormous,  and  in  addition  to  conducting  cho- 
ruses and  orchestral  concerts  he  had  many  engage- 
ments at  distant  places. 

While  resident  in  New  York  he  gave  ninety-two 
organ  recitals  at  Chickering  Hall,  besides  which  he 
inaugurated  almost  every  large  new  organ  erected  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 

At  Pittsburg,  during  his  first  three  seasons,  he 
gave  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  recitals  in  Car- 
negie. Hall,  and  played  six  hundred  and  twenty-three 
organ  compositions,  and  seven  hundred  and  forty-two 
orchestral  transcriptions,  to  total  audiences  of  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  people.  He  also 
gave  a  great  number  of  lectures,  and  was  largely 
instrumental  in  founding  the  Pittsburg  Symphony 
Orchestra. 

It  was  conceded  that  Archer  revolutionised  the  art 
of  organ-playing  in  America.  His  success  was  gained 
by  recognising  the  necessity  of  popularising  the  in- 
strument. Programmes  made  up  of  heavy  scholastic 
works  have  always  proved  wearisome  to  a  general 
audience,  and  sometimes  even  to  a  musical  audience. 
Archer  adapted  the  organ  to  the  requirements  of 
orchestral  compositions,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
was  one  of  the  finest  exponents  of  classical  organ 
music. 

Sir  John  Stainer  was  one  of  the  most  active  and 
eminent    musicians    of   his    day.      Born    in    London 


2l6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

(1 840- 1 901),  he  was  educated  entirely  in  England, 
entering  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  at  the  age 
of  seven,  when  he  was  already  a  remarkable  player 
and  sight  singer.  In  1854  he  was  appointed  organist 
and  choirmaster  of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Peter's 
Church.  He  studied  organ  under  George  Cooper, 
and  in  1856  he  was  selected  by  Sir  PYederick  Ouse- 
ley  as  organist  for  the  newly  founded  college  and 
church  of  St.  Michael,  Tenbury,  where  he  remained 
three  years,  during  which  time  he  matriculated  at 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  took  his  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Music.  Being  appointed  organist  of  Magda- 
len College,  Oxford,  he  left  Tenbury,  and  entered  at 
Oxford  as  an  undergraduate,  discharging  his  duties 
as  organist  while  working  for  his  B.  A.  degree, 
which  he  took  in  1863.  On  the  death  of  Doctor 
Elvey  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  and  conductor  of  two  musical  societies. 
In  1865  he  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music,  and 
in  the  following  year  that  of  Master  of  Arts,  and 
became  one  of  the  examiners  for  musical  degrees. 
From  1872  to  1888  he  was  organist  of  St.  Paul's, 
London,    succeeding   Sir  John  Goss, 

In  1888  he  was  knighted,  and  in  1889  was 
appointed  professor  of  music  at  Oxford  University. 
Various  other  positions  held  by  him  were  professor 
of  organ  and  harmony  of  the  National  Training- 
School    of   Music,   and  later  principal   of  the   same. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  21/ 

When  this  institution  became  the  Royal  College  of 
Music,  he  was  one  of  the  professors.  He  was  also 
government  inspector  of  music  in  the  training- 
schools.  In  1878  he  was  made  a  Chevalier  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour. 

His  principal  works  are  the  oratorio,  "  Gideon  ; " 
the  cantatas,  "The  Daughter  of  Jairus,"  "St.  Mary 
Magdalene;"  "The  Crucifixion;"  numerous  an- 
thems, services,  primers,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
W,  A.  Barrett,  the  well-known  "  Dictionary  of 
Musical  Terms." 

The  Reverend  Frederick  Scotson  Clarke  (born  in 
London,  1840,  died  in  London,  1883)  was  a  prolific 
composer  for  the  organ.  He  was  an  organ  pupil  of 
E.  J.  Hopkins,  and  studied  music  both  at  the  Royal 
Academy  and  in  Paris,  He  also  studied  for  the 
ministry  at  Oxford  and  at  Cambridge,  and  was 
organist  at  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  He  next  stud- 
ied music  again  at  Leipzig  and  Stuttgart,  and  on 
his  return  to  England  founded  the  London  Organ 
School  in  1873.  He  was  also  the  representative 
English  organist  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1878. 
For  the  organ  he  wrote  fifteen  marches,  forty-eight 
voluntaries,  and  six  communions,  besides  offertories 
and  other  pieces. 

Sir  Walter  Parratt  holds  at  the  present  day  the 
much  desired  position  of  master  of  music  to  the  king, 
also  that  of  organist  at  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor. 


2l8  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Sir  Walter  Parratt  is  a  native  of  Hucldersfield,  in 
Yorkshire,  where  his  family  has  been  long  and  hon- 
ourably associated  with  the  musical  life.  In  fact, 
the  musical  history  of  Huddersficld  is  said  to  have 
commenced  with  the  year  1812,  when  Thomas  Par- 
ratt, a  youth  just  passing  out  of  his  teens,  became 
the  first  organist  of  the  parish  church,  beginning  his 
duties  on  Christmas  day  of  that  year.  He  officiated 
at  fifty  Christmas  services,  and  died  in  March,  1862, 
when  he  was  succeeded  as  organist  by  his  son  Henry, 
who  has  played  on'  forty  similar  occasions,  father 
and  son  having  officiated  for  ninety  years  without 
a  break. 

Walter  Parratt  is  the  younger  brother  of  Henry, 
and  displayed  much  precocity.  At  the  age  of  seven 
he  was  able  to  play  the  organ  for  the  serx'ice  in  the 
church,  and  at  ten  he  played  the  whole  of  the  forty- 
eight  preludes  and  fugues  of  Bach  by  heart. 

At  eleven  years  of  age  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  Armitage  Bridge  Church,  and  not  long  afterward 
he  secured  the  position  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  Hud- 
dersfield,  where  he  remained  until  1861,  when  he 
received  the  appointment  of  organist  at  Witley 
Court,  in  Worcestershire,  in  the  service  of  Lord 
Dudley.  Here  he  had  opportunity  for  study,  and 
remained  for  seven  years.  In  1868  he  became  or- 
ganist of  the  parish  church  at  Wigan,  Yorkshire. 
In  1872  he  went  in  a  similar  capacity  to  Magdalen 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  219 

College,  Oxford,  and  in  1882  to  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  succeeding  Sir  George  Elvey,  He  became 
professor  of  organ  at  the  Royal  College  of  Music  in 
1883,  was  knighted  in  1892,  and  the  following  year 
was  appointed  master  of  music  in  ordinary  to  Queen 
Victoria. 

Sir  Walter  Parratt  is  gifted  with  a  wonderful 
memory,  concerning  which  many  remarkable  feats 
are  recorded.  Besides  being  an  excellent  musician 
he  is  the  possessor  of  much  literary  knowledge  and 
ability,  has  contributed  articles  to  Grove's  Dictionary, 
and  the  chapter  on  music  in  Humphrey  Ward's 
"Reign  of  Queen  Victoria."  His  musical  composi- 
tions include  several  organ  pieces. 

As  a  staunch  upholder  of  the  legitimate  in  organ- 
playing  he  elicited  a  reply  to  one  of  his  lectures  a 
few  years  ago  from  Mr.  Best,  who,  as  one  of  the 
organists  most  active  in  the  use  of  arrangements, 
was  perhaps  better  fitted  than  any  one  else  to  defend 
the  practice.  As  the  question  of  popularising  organ- 
playing  is  still  as  actively  open  as  ever,  it  may  be 
permissible  to  repeat  such  portions  of  the  controversy 
as  may  seem  to  have  a  general,  and  not  too  personal 
bearing  on  the  question. 

In  1854  Mr.  Chorley,  the  critic  of  The  Athenceum 
(London),  made  a  fierce  attack  on  "arrangements,"  in 
the  following  paragraph  : 

"An  organist  who  analyses  an  orchestra  and  its 


220  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

varieties  with  the  view  of  representing  them  on  the 
organ,  wastes  his  time,  loses  his  way,  and  does  not 
know  his  duties  and  their  hmits.  The  organ  can 
hardly  be  called  *an  orchestra  in  itself  (even  of 
wind  instruments),  and  the  fancy  of  devoting  it  to 
arranged  music  has  brought  it  into  low  estimation. 
How  shall  an  orchestra,  the  basis  of  which  is  the 
brisk  and  pungent  stringed  quartet,  be  represented 
by  its  coarser  and  heavier  tones,  among  which  every 
staccato  becomes  a  'quack,'  and  every  rapid  arpeggio 
a  yawn  or  scream,  —  according  as  the  stops  are  of 
wood  or  metal,  —  and  every  chromatic  scale  a  con- 
fusion, analogous  to  the  blot  of  mixed  tints  on  a 
painter's  palette  ? " 

This  attack  was  answered  at  some  length  by  Henry 
Smart.  We  cannot  follow  out  his  argument  in  full 
detail,  but  a  few  sentences  here  and  there  will  give 
the  gist  of  his  argument. 

"  About  all  this  there  is,  doubtless,  some  truth  ; 
yet  so  overlaid  with  misrepresentation,  or  rather,  non- 
comprehension  of  the  facts,  as  to  become  really  value- 
less. If  an  organist  'analyses  an  orchestra,'  etc., 
with  the  view  of  reproducing  on  his  instrument  pre- 
cisely the  effect  of  the  score,  for  example  one  of 
Beethoven's  symphonies,  he  certainly  'loses  his  way' 
and  deserves  all  TJie  AthencBiim  may  say  of  him. 
And  it  is  unfortunately  true  that  a  great  many 
organists,  not  thoroughly  conversant  either  with  the 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  221 

orchestra  or  their  own  mstrument,  do  commit  this 
very  obvious  blunder.  If,  however,  it  is  intended 
absolutely  to  prohibit  all  adaptations  for  the  organ  — 
however  artistically  contrived  —  of  modern  orchestral 
and  vocal  music,  we  must  emphatically  dissent  from 
the  conclusion."  Then  follows  a  long  argument  of 
which  the  following  is  the  summing-up  : 

"  In  fine,  without  possessing  the  power  of  pre- 
cisely copying  (the  orchestra,  or  mihtary  band,  or 
chorus),  the  organ  can  render  more  closely  a  general 
resemblance,  or  rather,  perhaps,  can  suggest  more 
forcibly  an  idea  of  the  effect  of  an  orchestral  score, 
than  any  other  instrument ;  and  whoever  seeks  more 
from  it  than  this,  either  '  loses  his  way '  in  the  pur- 
suit, or  was  a  bad  judge  of  his  means  in  the  beginning." 

In  regard  to  the  statement  that  the  "  fancy  of 
devoting  it  to  arranged  music  has  brought  it  into 
low  estimation,"  Mr.  Smart  says  :  '*  To  the  players 
it  has  opened  a  new  vista  of  ideas ;  without  in  the 
least  deteriorating  their  love  for,  or  their  capability 
of  executing,  the  music  of  Bach,  it  has  increased 
their  mechanical  accomplishment  both  in  finger  skill 
and  the  management  of  their  instrument,  and  has 
refined  and  spiritualised  their  style ;  while  to  its 
urgent  demands  for  improvement,  the  organ  itself  is 
almost  indebted  for  the  immense  ameliorations  in 
tone  and  mechanism  it  has  of  late  years  displayed." 

In  answer  to  the  critic's  concluding  sentences,  Mr. 


22  2  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Smart  considers  them  "  very  sharp  writing,  but  very 
flat  nonsense." 

Many  years  later,  in  fact  about  1891  or  1892,  an 
article  hostile  to  "  arrangements  "  was  written  by  Mr. 
Walter  Parratt,  which  was  answered  by  Mr.  Best, 
whose  arrangements  were  alluded  to  as  "  examples 
of  misapplied  skill." 

Mr.  Best  began  his  reply  by  asserting  that  on  the 
only  occasion  he  heard  Mr.  Parratt  perform  upon 
the  organ  he  essayed  a  transcription  of  Mendels- 
sohn's overture  "  Ruy  Bias."  He  goes  on  to  say 
that  it  is  necessary  that  all  organ  arrangements 
should  exhibit,  in  an  artistic  manner,  every  impor- 
tant feature  of  the  score,  and  never  be  debased  for 
performance  on  imperfectly  constructed  instruments 
by  players  more  or  less  in  the  state  of  pupilage.  He 
mentions  Bach  as  the  father  of  all  arrangers,  as  he 
accommodated  Vivaldi's  violin  concertos  to  the 
"  expressionless  German  organ  of  his  day  with  its 
intractable  pedal  bass."  Then  follows  a  long  list 
of  continental  and  English  organists  who  have 
"arranged"  for  the  organ.  This  list  includes  such 
names  as  F.  Lux,  F.  Liszt,  A.  Guilmant,  E.  Prout, 
E.  J.  Hopkins,  J.  Stainer,  H.  Smart,  and  F.  Archer, 
all  of  whom  would  hardly  select  music  unsuited  for 
organ  effect. 

He  continues  thus:  "Mr.  Parratt  urges  'that  the 
erection  of  large  concert-hall  organs  and  the  neces- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  223 

sity  for  pleasing  Saturday-night  audiences,  has  had  a 
disastrous  influence  over  organ  music,  as  in  the  ma- 
jority of  such  programmes  two-thirds  at  least  are 
arrangements  of  orchestral  and  choral  works.'  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  in  endeavouring 
to  raise  the  musical  taste  of  the  humbler  classes,  the 
municipal  authorities  of  our  large  towns  did  not  in- 
tend their  concert  organs  to  be  restricted  to  the  per- 
formance of  preludes,  and  fugues,  and  somewhat  dry 
sonatas.  As  is  the  case  with  orchestral  concerts  of 
a  popular  character,  the  higher  forms  of  composition 
have  to  be  introduced  both  warily  and  gradually.  .  .  . 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a  better  state  of  things 
exists  now,  and  if  we  could  obtain  anything  approach- 
ing Mozart's  great  Fantasia  in  F-minor,  all  would  be 
well.  Modern  German  composers  are  now  timidly 
adding  crescendo  and  diminuendo  to  their  organ 
pieces,  the  builders  being  compelled  to  advance  with 
the  times  and  provide  their  lifeless  stacks  of  pipes 
with  the  means  of  musical  expression  common  to  all 
English  and  French  organs.  .  .  .  The  works  of  Mr. 
Parratt's  favourite  composers,  —  Herren  Merkel  and 
Rheinberger,  —  though  in  undeniable  organ  form,  are 
apt  to  pall  upon  cultivated  ears.  Their  numerous 
sonatas,  in  particular,  bear  a  strong  family  likeness, 
the  chief  themes  being  encumbered  with  a  wearisome 
technical  development,  too  often  proclaiming  the 
manufactured  article  rather  than  the  presence  of  the 


224  ^-^^   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

creative  impulse,  while  the  enormous  length  of  many 
of  the  movements  effectually  prevents  a  frequent 
performance." 

Albert  Lister  Peace,  a  native  of  Huddersfield 
(1844),  exhibited  a  precocity  almost  equal  to  that  of 
Crotch  or  even  Mozart.  He  could  name  with  unerr- 
ing accuracy  individual  notes  and  combinations  of 
notes  when  sounded,  before  he  was  five  years  old. 
When  only  nine  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the 
parish  church  of  Holmfirth,  and  subsequently  of 
other  churches  in  that  neighbourhood.  In  1866  he 
became  organist  of  Trinity  Congregational  Church, 
Glasgow,  and  soon  afterward  he  was  appointed 
organist  to  the  university,  besides  filling  other  posi- 
tions. He  graduated  at  Oxford  as  Bachelor  of  Music 
in  1870,  and  as  Doctor  in  1875. 

As  an  organ-player  Doctor  Peace  stands  at  the 
head  of  his  profession  in  England.  He  was  ap- 
pointed organist  of  Glasgow  Cathedral  in  i  ^^i,  when 
a  new  organ  by  Willis  was  erected,  embracing  all  the 
most  recent  improvements  in  organ  construction,  and 
on  this  and  the  organ  in  Glasgow  New  Music  Hall  he 
was  frequently  heard,  as  well  as  in  all  parts  of  Great 
Britain.  In  1897  he  was  elected  organist  of  St. 
George's  Hall,  Liverpool,  to  succeed  Best  in  what  is 
considered  the  finest  organ  position  in  England,  and 
makes  demands  upon  the  virtuosity  of  the  organist 
as  no  other  appointment  does. 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  22$ 

Sir  John  Frederick  Bridge,  the  present  organist  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  is  a  native  of  Oldbury,  Worces- 
tershire (1844),  and  at  the  age  of  six  became  a  chor- 
ister at  Rochester  Cathedral,  where  he  remained  for 
nine  years.  He  was  then  articled  to  J.  Hopkins 
until  1864.  After  some  further  study  under  Sir 
John  Goss,  he  was  appointed  organist  of  Trinity 
Church,  Windsor.  He  took  his  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Music  at  Oxford  in  1868,  and  in  the  following  year 
became  organist  of  Manchester  Cathedral.  He  took 
his  doctor's  degree  in  1874,  and  shortly  after  was 
appointed  deputy  organist  at  Westminster  Abbey, 
succeeding  to  the  full  position  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
Turle,  in  1882.      He  was  knighted  in  1875. 

Sir  John  Bridge  is  professor  of  harmony  and 
counterpoint  at  the  Royal  College  of  Music,  and  has 
written  some  valuable  text-books  on  counterpoint  and 
on  organ  accompaniment  of  the  choral  service.  He 
has  been  prominently  connected  with  various  festi- 
vals, notably  that  of  Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  in 
1887,  when  he  arranged  all  the  music,  and  composed 
a  special  anthem,  for  which  he  received  the  thanks 
of  her  Majesty,  and  the  Silver  Jubilee  Medal.  He 
also,  as  organist  of  Westminster  Abbey,  arranged  the 
music  for  the  coronation  of  King  Edward,  in  1902. 

Joseph  Cox  Bridge,  the  brother  of  Sir  John  F. 
Bridge,  is  also  an  eminent  organist  holding  the  post 
at  Chester  Cathedral,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in 


226  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

1877.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  resuscitating  the 
Chester  Triennial  Festivals,  which  had  been  dormant 
for  some  fifty  years.  He  is  the  conductor  of  several 
musical  societies  in  the  north  of  England,  and  has 
gained  much  reputation  by  giving  free  organ  recitals 
in  Chester  Cathedral  on  Sunday  evenings. 

Arthur  Seymour  Sullivan  was  born  in  London, 
May  13,  1842.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Irish  band- 
master and  clarinet  player.  He  began  his  own  musi- 
cal career  as  one  of  the  children  of  the  Chapel  Royal, 
where  he  was  noted  for  his  sweet  voice  and  his  sym- 
pathetic style  of  singing.  There,  too,  he  began  his 
work  as  a  composer,  publishing,  in  1855,  "O  Israel," 
a  sacred  song.  In  July,  1856,  he  was  the  first  Men- 
delssohn scholar  in  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music, 
where  he  studied  under  Goss  and  Sterndale  Bennett 
until  he  went  to  Leipzig  in  the  fall  of  1858.  In  that 
institution  he  was  a  pupil  in  various  departments  of 
Plaidy,  Hauptmann,  Richter,  Rietz,  and  Moscheles. 
He  returned  to  London  in  1861,  bringing  with  him 
his  music  to  Shakespeare's  "  Tempest,"  which  was 
produced  at  the  Crystal  Palace  the  following  year. 

The  biography  of  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan  contains 
slight  reference  to  the  organ,  yet  he,  as  well  as 
Mendelssohn,  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley,  and  others  who 
were  not  by  profession  organists,  was  a  remarkable 
performer  on  the  king  of  instruments. 

On  his  return  from  Leipzig,  or  shortly  afterward, 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  22/ 

Sullivan  was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Michael's, 
Chester  Square,  London,  and  remained  there  until 
1867.  During  his  tenure  of  that  office,  he  designed 
an  organ  for  a  new  church  in  the  west  of  London, 
of  which  his  friend,  Cranmer  Byng,  had  been  ap- 
pointed vicar.  He  also  undertook  to  find  an  organ- 
ist, but  when  the  day  of  consecration  arrived,  he 
had  not  found  his  organist  and  volunteered  to  play 
for  two  or  three  Sundays  himself.  The  result  was 
that  he  remained  there  for  two  or  three  years. 

An  amusing  feature  of  the  consecration  ceremony 
was  this  :  —  The  hour  fixed  for  the  consecration  was 
twelve  o'clock,  and  all  was  ready, —  the  church  full 
and  the  choir  and  clergy  waiting.  But  the  bishop, 
through  some  misunderstanding,  did  not  arrive  until 
one  o'clock.  In  order  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
congregation,  Sullivan  began  to  play  appropriate  mu- 
sic on  the  organ.  First  he  played  "  I  waited  for  the 
Lord,"  and  later  he  went  on  with  a  song  of  his  own, 
entitled  "Will  he  come.?"  The  congregation  fully 
appreciated  the  appropriateness  of  the  selections. 

This  little  anecdote  may  well  be  followed  by 
another  from  a  different  part  of  the  world,  —  San 
Francisco.  The  organist  (Doctor  H.  J.  Stewart)  had 
invited  a  friend  to  sing  after  the  sermon,  during  the 
offertory.  It  had  not  occurred  either  to  the  organist 
or  his  friend  that  the  service,  being  a  special  one  in 
the  cause  of  missions,  would  call  for  more  than  one 


228  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

sermon,  so  at  the  conclusion  of  the  minister's  dis- 
course, they  made  themselves  ready  for  their  perfor- 
mance. Another  clergyman  came  forth  and  began 
to  preach,  and  following  him  another,  and  another. 
In  all  six  clergymen  delivered  themselves  of  their 
ideas  and  experiences  on  the  subject  of  missions,  and 
then  the  soloist  gave  his  selection,  "  It  is  enough ! 
Lord,  now  take  away  my  life." 

Arthur  Sullivan  was  one  of  four  organists  to  play 
at  the  reopening  of  the  beautiful  organ  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  Tenbury,  in  1869,  when  the  other  three 
organists  were  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley,  Doctor,  after- 
ward Sir  John  Stainer,  and  Langdon  Colborne,  later 
organist  of  Hereford  Cathedral.  Although  St.  Mi- 
chael's was  two  miles  from  the  nearest  village  and  rail- 
road, the  church  attracted  people  from  miles  around, 
and  was  crowded  to  suffocation,  and  there  was  a  feast 
of  organ  playing  such  as  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of 
man  to  hear.' 

One  of  the  most  prominent  English  organists  of 
the  present  day  is  George  Riseley,  a  native  of  Bristol 
(1845),  ^vho  was  educated  as  a  chorister  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  his  native  town,  and  became  articled  to  the 
organist,  J.  D.  Corfe,  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Dur- 
ing the  next  ten  years  he  was  organist  at  various 
churches  in  Bristol  and  Clifton,  at  the  same  time  act- 

*  The  writer  was  a  chorister  at  St.  Michael's  at  the  time  of  this 
inauguration. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  229 

ing  as  deputy  at  the  cathedral,  and  in  1876  he  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Corfe.  In  1870  he  was  appointed  organist 
at  Colston  Hall,  Bristol,  where  he  commenced  giving 
weekly  recitals  of  classical  and  popular  music. 

It  was  in  these  recitals  at  Colston  Hall  that  Riseley 
built  up  his  reputation.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  recitals 
in  his  native  town.  The  organ  at  Colston  Hall  was 
a  very  inadequate,  limited  instrument  of  two  manuals, 
yet  Riseley  laboured  indefatigably  to  make  his  work 
successful.  The  result  of  his  efforts  was  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  directors  of  the  hall  ordered  an 
instrument  of  four  manuals,  which  was  built  by  Willis 
and  cost  ;^2,5oo.  This  instrument  was  opened  by 
W.  T.  Best  in  1870,  and  Riseley  was  appointed 
organist,  a  position  which  he  held  until  the  destruction 
of  the  building  by  fire  in  1898.  In  the  following 
year  Mr.  Riseley  resigned  his  appointment  at  Bristol 
Cathedral,  with  which  he  had  been  connected  as 
chorister  and  organist  for  forty-seven  years,  and 
accepted  the  conductorship  of  the  Queen's  Hall 
Choral  Society  and  the  Alexandra  Palace,  both 
London  appointments,  his  success  with  the  Bristol 
Society  of  Instrumentalists,  and  the  Bristol  Choral 
Society  having  given  him  a  reputation  as  a  conductor. 

Sir  George  Clement  Martin,  the  present  organist 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  was  not  an  infant  prodigy. 
In  fact  it  is  almost  a  pleasure  to  relate  that  he  could 
not  play  a  note  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age. 


230  THE   ORGAN  AMD   ITS  AfASTERS 

Born  at  Lambourn,  in  Berkshire,  in  1844,  he  was 
not  a  musical  boy,  nor  of  a  musical  family,  except 
that  his  father  sang  tenor  in  the  village  church.  He 
was  not  particularly  interested  in  music  until  Sir 
Herbert  Oakeley  visited  the  church  and  played  some 
Bach  fugues  upon  the  organ,  which  was  a  fine  instru- 
ment. Then  he  set  to  work  to  teach  himself,  and  in 
a  few  months  his  opportunity  arrived  in  the  non- 
appearance of  the  village  organist  one  evening.  Mar- 
tin offered  to  play,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was 
allowed  to  officiate  one  evening  a  week.  He  now 
took  a  course  of  twelve  lessons,  and  shortly  afterward 
another  visitor,  noticing  his  earnestness  and  talent, 
advised  him  to  go  to  Sir  John  Stainer,  then  organist 
at  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  He  became  Stainer's 
pupil,  riding  to  Oxford,  twenty-two  miles,  every  week, 
on  horseback. 

Martin  now  became  the  regular  organist  of  the 
church  at  Lambourn.  He  organised  a  choral  society 
and  gave  standard  works.  For  this  purpose  he 
enlisted  the  services  of  the  village  brass  band,  who 
attended  all  rehearsals,  a  circumstance  which  led  to 
his  writing,  in  later  days,  church  music  with  accom- 
paniment for  military  band  instruments. 

After  taking  his  degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  at  Oxford, 
Martin  was  appointed  organist  at  Dalkeith  Palace, 
and  during  his  tenure  of  this  office  he  was,  for  part 
of  the  time,  organist  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Edinburgh. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  23 1 

In  1873  Sir  John  Stainer  was  appointed  organist 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  he  sent  for  his  former 
pupil  to  act  as  "  master  of  song,"  a  duty  which  was 
occasionally  varied  by  acting  as  deputy  organist.  In 
1876,  on  the  death  of  George  Cooper,  Martin  became 
sub-organist  at  St.  Paul's,  and  when  Sir  John  Stainer 
resigned  in  1888,  Doctor  Martin  (who  had  received 
his  degree  in  1883)  became  full  organist.  In  this 
capacity  he  had  charge  of  the  music  for  the  Diamond 
Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria,  for  which  he  received  the 
honour  of  knighthood. 

Sir  George  Martin's  contributions  to  church  music 
are  valuable,  dignified,  and  impressive,  but  he  has  not 
yet  pubhshed  anything  for  the  organ  as  a  solo  instru- 
ment. 

Mr.  Edwin  H.  Lemare  inherited  his  musical  tend- 
encies from  his  father,  from  whom  he  received  his 
first  lessons.  At  the  early  age  of  eleven  he  won  the 
Sir  John  Goss  Scholarship  awarded  by  the  College 
of  Organists.  He  then  pursued  his  studies  at  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Music  under  Sir  George  Macfar- 
ren,  Walter  Macfarren,  Doctor  Steggall,  and  Doctor 
E.  H.  Turpin. 

His  first  appointment  was  at  the  church  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  at  Finsbury  Park.  Later  he 
was  engaged  as  organist  to  the  Park  Hall,  Cardiff, 
the  competition  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  appli- 
cants  being   decided   in   his  favour.     He   was   soon 


232  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

offered  the  position  of  organist  in  the  parish  church, 
Sheffield,  where  he  remained  six  years,  giving  no  less 
than  three  hundred  recitals  in  the  north  of  England. 
Returning  to  London,  he  was  appointed  organist  and 
choirmaster  to  Holy  Trinity  Church. 

During  five  years  he  was  organist  and  choirmaster 
at  St.  Margaret's,  making  the  music  of  that  church 
famous  by  his  peculiar  personality.  Mr.  Lemare  is 
a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Organists  and  an 
Honourable  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music. 

He  has  marked  facility  in  command  of  the  man- 
uals and  pedals,  and  he  has  an  unusual  sense  of  colour 
effects.  These  effects  are  at  times  surprising  and 
often  beautiful.  He  is  distinctly  an  orchestral 
player ;  he  considers  the  organ  as  an  instrument  that 
may  imitate  the  orchestra. 

In  1 90 1  Mr.  Lemare  paid  a  visit  to  the  United 
States,  giving  a  number  of  recitals  in  various  cities. 
He  was  shortly  afterward  offered  the  position  of 
organist  at  the  Carnegie  Institute,  Pittsburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, then  vacant  through  the  death  of  Frederick 
Archer.  Mr.  Lemare  accepted  the  terms  offered, 
and  assumed  his  duties  in  the  spring  of  1902. 

The  work  of  the  majority  of  English  organists  has 
been  so  closely  connected  with  the  music  of  the 
church,  that  it  is  impossible  to  regard  them  simply 
as  organ-players.  Those  who  held  the  most  impor- 
tant positions  were  undoubtedly  appointed  largely  on 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  233 

account  of  their  ability  as  performers,  but  holding 
those  positions,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  write 
anthems  and  other  music  suitable  for  the  service  of 
the  church. 

At  the  time  of  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  Queen 
Victoria's  reign,  an  excellent  survey  of  the  music  of 
the  Victorian  era  was  written  by  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett, 
the  eminent  English  critic,  and  a  few  extracts  from 
his  articles  will  enable  us  to  sum  up  the  respective 
merits  of  some  of  the  chief  organists  of  that  period. 

Mr.  Bennett  begins  by  showing  that  at  the  com- 
mencement of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  deep  discon- 
tent prevailed  concerning  the  condition  of  church 
music.  Of  the  many  quotations  from  periodicals  of 
the  time  we  need  repeat  but  one  :  "  The  choirs  of 
our  cathedrals,  with  some  few  exceptions  only,  are  in 
a  most  crippled  and  enfeebled  condition.  They  are 
living  skeletons  of  what  were  once  vigorous  and 
effective  bodies." 

The  Church  as  a  whole  was  on  the  verge  of  an 
immense  reform.  The  old  state  of  lifelessness,  of 
perfunctory  labours  and  dead  services,  was  about 
to  pass  away,  and  all  things  were  to  become  new  at 
the  call  of  men  who,  once  bitterly  assailed  and  de- 
nounced, have  since  been  justified  as  the  children 
of  wisdom. 

"There  were  many  contributories  to  the  great 
change    in    church  music   which   took   place  at   the 


234  ^-^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

beginning  of  the  Victorian  era,  and  all  are  entitled  to 
more  or  less  recognition  and  praise  ;  but  I  shall  not 
be  far  wrong  in  attributing  much  of  the  moving  influ- 
ence to  Mozart,  acting  through  his  pupil  Attwood, 
and  continuing  through  Attwood's  pupil,  John  Goss. 

"  Of  Attwood  a  competent  writer  said,  just  after 
his  death :  '  His  Italian  education  and  want  of 
intimacy  with  the  great  Protestant  school  of  ecclesi- 
astical music,  as  exhibited  in  the  works  of  J.  S. 
Bach,  led  him  to  reject  the  energetic  dissonances 
derived  from  the  organ ;  hence  his  church  vocal 
music,  although  marked  by  a  serene  and  elegant  out- 
line, is  without  that  unction  and  raciness  of  spirit 
which  distinguishes  the  kindred  effusions  of  his  con- 
temporaries Charles  and  Samuel  Wesley.  .  .  .  His 
strength  lay  in  the  elegance  of  his  cantilena  and  the 
pure  orchestral  construction  of  his  harmonies.  The 
anthems  "Be  Thou  my  Judge,  O  God,"  "Grant, 
we  beseech  Thee,"  "Bow  down  Thine  ear,"  "Teach 
me,  O  Lord,"  and  the  Cantate  Domino,  are  severally 
learned  and  elaborate  compositions,  while  for  cor- 
rectness and  chastity  they  are  models  which  stand 
unequalled  in  modern  times.' 

"Allowing  for  a  certain  measure  of  elegiac  fer- 
vour, the  foregoing  estimate  of  Attwood  is  cor- 
rect, and  we  must  recognise  in  his  church  music 
a  decided  step  toward  the  freedom,  pliancy,  and 
grace,  and,  as  regards  structure,  simplicity,  which  the 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  235 

sacred  compositions  of  various  masters  displayed 
later  on.  It  is,  however,  as  the  master  of  Goss 
that  Attwood  did,  perhaps,  the  greater  service.  No 
conjunction  could  have  been  more  fit  and  fortunate 
than  that  of  this  teacher  and  this  pupil.  The  nature 
of  Goss  might  have  been  specially  prepared  for  the 
seed  which  Attwood  dropped  into  it.  .  .  ,  How 
strange  it  seems  that  not  till  long  after  his  appoint- 
ment as  organist  of  St.  Paul's  (1838)  did  the  full 
measure  of  his  powers  appear.  ...  His  anthem,  '  O 
praise  the  Lord,'  written  for  the  enthronement  of  the 
Bishop  of  London  in  1856,  was  so  favourably  received 
that  Novello  and  Company  gave  Goss  practically 
carte  blanche  with  regard  to  others.  '  Christ  our 
Passover '  and  '  Behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings ' 
speedily  followed,  and  then  the  whole  musical  world 
became  alive  to  the  fact  that  there  was  a  great 
genius  in  its  midst  —  a  genius  whom  circumstances 
had  kept  silent  until  he  had  arrived  at  an  age  when 
most  men  cease  to  speak.  .  .  .  From  that  time  until 
within  a  few  years  of  his  death  he  enriched  the 
stores  of  church  music  with  works  heard  every  day 
in  one  or  other  of  our  cathedrals — works  which 
preach  the  truths  of  religion  more  forcibly  than 
many  sermons." 

"  The  source  of  another  powerful  influence  in  shap- 
ing Victorian  church  music  must  now  be  dealt  with. 
.  .  .  Samuel   Sebastian  Wesley.      This   remarkable 


236  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

musician,  whose  reward  was  infinitely  smaller  than 
his  deserts,  made  himself  known  as  a  gifted  com- 
poser long  before  Goss  conspicuously  took  the  field. 
It  may  be  doubted,  nevertheless,  whether  Wesley 
has  exerted  so  great  an  influence  upon  church  music 
as  the  gentle  and  gracious  organist  of  St.  Paul's. 
He  stood  nearer  to  the  rank  of  genius  than  Goss  ; 
he  was  erratic,  daring,  and  altogether  a  '  terrible 
fellow '  to  those  who  were  at  ease  in  the  musical 
Zion.  Such  characters  often  stand  in  their  own 
light,  and  Goss,  who  was  not  terrible  at  all,  made 
easier  way,  though  coming  later,  than  did  the  bold 
spirit  who  went  before.  .  .  .  His  musical  lineage 
differed  materially  from  that  of  his  sometime  rival. 
If  Mozart  was  Goss's  grandfather,  Sebastian  Bach 
stood  in  the  same  relation  to  Wesley  ;  but  of  course 
these  declarations  of  kinship  must  be  taken  with 
many  grains  of  salt.  .  .  .  From  an  early  age  Wes- 
ley, as  a  matter  of  course,  was  grounded  in  Bach. 
His  father  was  the  apostle  of  the  great  cantor  in 
England,  and  never  ceased  calling  upon  men  to 
believe  his  gospel.  Bach,  howeveri  though  an  influ- 
ence, and  a  precious  one,  with  Wesley,  was  not  the 
determining  influence.  The  bent  of  Wesley's  mind, 
though  susceptible  to  the  claims  of  antique  grandeur 
and  profound  scholasticism,  was  toward  the  then 
modern  in  style  and  expression.  .  .  .  His  influence 
was  thrown  upon  the  side  of  Spohr  and  Mendelssohn, 


THE    ORGAN  AJVD  ITS  MASTERS  237 

"  A  reviewer  of  1 840  says  of  Wesley :  '  That 
Wesley  and  Mendelssohn  should  fall  on  similar 
trains  of  ideas  and  similar  modes  of  arranging  and 
working  them  out,  is  in  no  wise  astonishing,  if  the 
parity  of  their  musical  education  and  likings  be  con- 
sidered. Both  early  imbibed  a  reverence  for  the 
grandest  kind  of  ecclesiastical  music  and  the  severest 
style  of  organ  performance ;  into  both  was  the  wis- 
dom of  old  Bach  instilled  at  the  earliest  period  of 
their  musical  existence,  and  both  prove  by  their  writ- 
ings that  their  love  for  his  sublime  compositions  is,  at 
this  day,  in  no  degree  diminished.  Thus  it  is  evident 
that  the  striking  similarities  to  which  we  have  re- 
ferred cannot  be  rightly  viewed  otherwise  than  as 
kindred  inspirations  of  like  minds  journeying  toward 
the  same  object  and  lighted  by  the  same  guide- 
star." 

"  Apart  from  what  are  merely  personal  character- 
istics," continues  Mr.  Bennett,  "the  church  music  of 
the  time  now  present  offers  a  spectacle  of  well-nigh 
complete  agreement  as  regards  determining  features 
and  in  respect  of  essential  points.  It  appears  to  have 
settled  down  upon  lines  prepared  by  former  masters, 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  tempered  the  austerity  and 
scholasticism  of  a  still  earlier  day  with  sentiment 
and  grace,  the  winning  expression  and  subduing 
influence  derived  mainly  from  illustrious  foreign 
sources." 


238  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

E.  J.  Hopkins,  the  late  organist  of  the  Temple 
Church,  is  quoted  as  a  safe  guide  to  the  younger 
generation  of  his  fellow  workers.  Sir  John  Stainer 
inclines  over  much  to  sentimentahsm,  but  the  power 
which  he  wielded  in  shaping  the  ends  of  church 
music  was  great.  Sir  George  Martin  draws  more 
liberally  upon  the  technical  resources  of  his  art,  his 
utterances  are  strongly  coloured,  his  devices  are 
sometimes  very  bold,  he  uses  the  organ  as  for  or- 
chestral effects  in  accompaniment,  and  he  does  not 
shrink  from  presenting  difBculties  to  the  voices. 

Sir  Herbert  Oakeley  is  mentioned  as  one  who  has 
made  worthy  contributions  to  church  music,  and  Sir 
Joseph  Barnby  is  bracketed  for  popularity  with 
Sir  John  Stainer,  while  Doctor  Garrett  is  mentioned 
as  one  whose  manly  straightforwardness,  simplicity, 
and  expressiveness  were  remarkable.  Many  other 
composers  are  touched  upon,  but  in  Mr.  Bennett's 
review  there  is  no  mention  of  organ  music  apart 
from  the  general  music  of  the  church. 


CHAPTER   X. 

AMERICAN    ORGANISTS 

The  progress  of  organs  and  organists  in  the 
United  States  during  the  nineteenth  century  has 
been  remarkable.  While  it  has  no  doubt  been 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  country,  there  is 
no  reason  as  yet  to  claim  that  America  is  on  a 
level  with  some  of  the  older  countries.  But  when 
other  nations  were  adults  in  art,  North  America  was 
still,  for  the  greater  part,  a  howling  wilderness.  In 
1789  the  population  of  Boston,  for  instance,  was 
eighteen  thousand,  and  the  settled  portion  of  the 
United  States  was  confined  to  a  comparatively  nar- 
row strip  running  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  The 
majority  of  the  great  cities  of  to-day  were  not  yet 
thought  of,  or  some  existed  as  trading  posts  remote 
from  civilisation. 

The  history  of  the  organ  in  America  may  be  said 
to  commence  with  the  importation  of  the  old  Brattle 
organ,  so  called  after  Thomas  Brattle,  treasurer  of 
Harvard  College,  who  left  the  said  organ  to  the 
Brattle  Square  Church  when  he  died  in   17 13. 

239 


240  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  good  people  of  the  church,  however,  voted 
"  that  they  did  not  think  it  proper  to  use  said  organ 
in  the  public  worship  of  God,"  so  the  rejected  instru- 
ment went,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  will,  to 
King's  Chapel,  Boston.  By  the  congregation  of  this 
chapel  the  organ  was  accepted,  not  without  some 
hesitation,  and  was  erected  in  17 14,  when  an  Eng- 
lishman, Mr.  Enstone,  of  Tower  Hill,  London,  was 
invited  to  become  organist,  at  a  salary  of  thirty 
pounds  a  year.  Further  than  this  little  or  nothing 
is  recorded  of  Mr.  Edward  Enstone,  the  first  organ- 
ist in  America.  The  old  Brattle  organ  is,  probably, 
the  only  one  of  the  imported  instruments  of  the 
eighteenth  century  that  exists  to-day  in  its  original 
form,  and  is,  therefore,  an  admirable  object-lesson. 
He  who  views  it  at  the  present  day  cannot  help  won- 
dering why  this  small,  unostentatious  box  of  whistles 
should  have  created  so  much  commotion  in  the  col- 
ony. It  remained  in  use  in  King's  Chapel  until 
1756,  when  it  was  sold  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  New- 
buryport,  where  it  was  in  constant  use  for  eighty 
years.  It  was  next  sold  to  St.  John's  Church,  Ports- 
mouth, New  Hampshire,  and  has,  during  recent 
years,  occupied  a  position  near  the  chancel  in  the 
chapel  of  that  church.  In  1901  this  old  instrument 
was  brought  to  Boston,  and  exhibited  at  the  exhibition 
of  musical  instruments  held  in  the  new  Horticultu- 
ral Hall. 


THE    BRATTLE    ORGAN 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  24 1 

In  the  course  of  seventy-seven  years  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  Brattle  Square  Church  decided  to  surren- 
der to  the  growing  demand  for  music  in  the  church, 
and  they  bought  an  organ  of  two  manuals  and  sixteen 
stops.  This  instrument,  also,  was  made  abroad,  and 
before  it  was  landed  and  installed  there  was  much 
bitterness  of  heart  in  the  congregation.  One  wealthy 
member  was  so  disturbed  by  the  idea  of  such  an 
innovation  that  he  offered  to  pay  the  whole  cost  of 
the  instrument  into  the  treasury,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor,  if  it  should  be  thrown  overboard  in  the 
harbour.  The  old  Brattle  organ  had  six  stops,  and  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  pipes. 

The  next  organ  imported  was  larger  (there  were 
several  between  the  Brattle  organ  and  the  Brattle 
Square  Church  organ),  and  it  had  thirteen  stops  and 
four  hundred  and  ninety-eight  pipes.  There  was 
tribulation  also  over  this  instrument,  for  it  was 
offered  by  Bishop  Berkely  to  the  town  of  Berkely, 
which  was  named  after  him.  But  this  organ  was 
also  rejected,  and  was  then  presented  to  Trinity 
Church,  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  where  it  was  used 
for  one  hundred  and  eleven  years.  The  first  organ- 
ist of  Trinity  Church  was  Charles  Theodore  Par- 
chebel,  of  Boston,  who  assisted  in  setting  up  the 
instrument.  After  this  period  of  service  it  was  "  re- 
constructed "  by  Erben  of  New  York.  This  pro- 
cess consisted  of  retaining  the  case  and  two  stops 


242  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

for  the  original  instrument,  while  the  other  stops, 
with  the  action  and  keyboard,  were  put  into  a  pine 
case,  and  the  organ  thus  constructed  was  presented 
to  St.  Mary's  Church,  Portsmouth,  Rhode  Island, 
in  1850,  by  Miss  Grace  Gibbs.  A  few  more  years 
rolled  by,  and  in  1880  the  interior  of  the  organ  in 
Trinity  Church,  Newport,  was  removed  and  taken  to 
Kay  Chapel,  in  the  same  city.  This  time  the  two 
stops  of  the  original  organ  went  also.  In  the  old 
case  a  new  organ  was  built. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  record  all  the  instruments  im- 
ported from  abroad  during  the  eighteenth  century. 
There  were  several,  but  in  nearly  all  cases  they  were 
comparatively  insignificant  instruments,  judged  by 
the  standard  of  the  present  day.  Indeed,  the  major- 
ity of  the  instruments  in  Europe  were  not  to  be 
compared  with  those  of  to-day. 

The  first  organ  built  in  America  is  said  to  have 
been  that  erected  by  John  Clemm  in  Trinity  Church, 
New  York,  in  1737,  and  it  contained  three  manuals 
and  twenty-six  stops.  Eight  years  later  Edvv^ard 
Brom field  built  an  organ,  in  Boston,  which  had  two 
manuals  and  several  hundred  pipes.  The  intention 
was  to  have  twelve  hundred  pipes,  but  unfortunately 
Bromfield  died  before  the  organ  was  complete.  This 
is  said  to  be  the  first  pipe  organ  built  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  it  is  recorded,  by  one  who  saw  it,  that  this 
organ  contained  better  workmanship,  as  to  pipes  and 


(Courtei^  of  the  builders,  Hook-Hastings  Co.) 

THE    ORGAN    OF    THE    MUSIC    HALL,    CINCINNATI,    O. 


/ 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  243 

keys,  than  anything  of  the  kind  imported  from  Eng- 
land. But  the  most  surprising  part  of  the  account  is 
that  Bromfield  built  this  organ,  which  contained  such 
superior  workmanship,  after  having  only  a  few  times 
looked  into  the  inside  of  two  or  three  organs  that 
came  from  England. 

This  instrument  was  placed  in  the  Old  South 
Church,  Boston,  but  during  the  siege  of  Boston  it 
was  removed  for  safety  to  a  store,  —  where  it  was 
burned. 

Organ-building  was  now  started,  and  made  good 
progress,  but  no  organ  of  great  importance  was  built 
until  1853,  when  Hook  and  Hastings  built  an  instru- 
ment of  four  manuals,  seventy  stops,  and  three  thou- 
sand and  ninety-six  pipes,  which  was  installed  in 
Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  and  may  be  considered  the 
first  instrument  built  on  this  continent  which  could 
be  considered  a  concert  organ.  Others  followed,  as 
the  Cincinnati  Music  Hall  organ  for  instance,  and 
at  the  present  day  many  beautiful  instruments  are 
manufactured  in  America,  which  will  stand  compari- 
son with  the  contemporary  productions  of  the  Old 
World.  This  is  as  far  as  we  need  trace  the  organ- 
building  just  now,  and  we  must  return  to  earlier  days 
and  organists. 

In  the  book  on  "  Olden-Time  Music,"  by  Henry 
M.  Brooks,  there  are  numerous  references  to  early 
organs  and  early  organists,  chiefly  in  New  England. 


244  ^■^^    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  earliest  organs  were  placed  in  Episcopal,  or 
"Church  of  England"  churches,  but  a  reference  to 
Stiles's  diary  says  that  on  the  Sunday  preceding  July 
10,  1770,  an  organ  was  played  in  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  that  was 
the  first  instance  of  such  music  in  any  "dissenting 
church  "  in  all  British  America. 

Among  the  notices  of  concerts  we  find  one  of 
"Mr.  Dipper's  Publick  Concert,"  on  February  3, 
1761  ;  and  Mr.  Dipper  was  organist  of  King's  Chapel. 
On  April  27,  1786,  a  concert  complimentary  to  Mr. 
Selby  was  given,  and  at  a  concert,  given  for  chari- 
table purposes  on  January  10  of  the  same  year,  Mr. 
Selby  played  "the  Second  Organ  Concerto  of  Mr. 
Handel."  The  programme  was  long,  and  the  nine- 
teenth number  was  "  Mr.  Selby  will  then  play  a  Solo, 
Piano,  on  the  Organ." 

The  twenty-first  selection  was,  "  Lastly  the  musi- 
cal Band  will  perform  a  favourite  Overture  by  Mr. 
Bach."     This  latter  is  a  slight  digression,  but  quaint. 

This  Mr.  William  Selby  had  been  organist  of 
Trinity  Church,  Newport,  in  which  town  he  had  also 
taught  dancing  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays  at  4  P.  m. 
On  August  I,  1774,  he  was  announced  in  the  New- 
port Mercury,  as  organist  of  Trinity  Church,  in  con- 
nection with  a  concert  of  vocal  and  instrumental 
music  to  be  given  at  the  court-house,  but  on  Septem- 
ber 16  of  the  same  year  a  concert  was  announced  for 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  245 

the  benefit  of  Mr.  Knoetchel,  organist  of  Trinity- 
Church,  so  it  may  be  surmised  that  the  dancing 
school  was  not  regarded  favourably  by  the  church 
people.  In  1796  Mr.  John  L.  Burkenhead,  a  blind 
man,  became  organist  of  Trinity  Church,  Newport, 
and  held  the  position  for  eight  years. 

Mr.  Selby's  name  is  frequently  mentioned,  as  organ- 
ist of  the  Stone  Chapel  in  Boston,  and  as  a  composer 
of  odes,  anthems,  etc. 

In  1799  the  Coliimbimi  Centinel  contains  a  long 
announcement  of  Mrs.  Von  Hagen,  a  music-teacher, 
who  "at  the  age  of  eleven  performed  at  the  court  of 
The  Hague,  with  universal  applause ;  she  was  for 
several  years  Organist  at  the  churches  at  Namur, 
Middleburg,  Vlissingen,  and  Bergen  op  den  Zoom. 
She  also  teaches  on  that  instrument,  as  well  Church 
Music  as  Lessons  Sonatis  Concertos,  and  by  theory, 
the  Fantasie."  Truly  a  remarkable  woman,  —  one 
might  say  incomprehensible.  Lessons  were  given  by 
this  unusual  person  for  the  paltry  sum  of  six  dollars 
for  every  eight  lessons.  In  January,  1800,  an  an- 
nouncement is  made  of  "  A  Funeral  Dirge  on  the 
death  of  General  Washington  ;  the  music  composed 
by  P.  A.  Von  Hagen,  Organist  of  the  Stone  Chapel." 

Another  organist  whose  name  appears  in  this  book 
of  olden-time  music  is  Mr.  Mallet,  organist  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kirkland's  congregation,  who  announced 
a    "spiritual    concert,"    to    be    given   at    the    New 


246  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

South   Meeting-house,    Summer   Street  on   May   31, 

1798. 

One  Hans  Gram,  a  German  musician,  was  organist 
of  the  Brattle  Church  in  1793. 

Rayner  Taylor,  a  good  organist,  harpsichord-player, 
singer,  and  composer,  a  native  of  England,  brought 
up  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  came  to  America  in  1792, 
and  after  travelling  considerably,  settled  down  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  became  a  recognised  musical 
authority. 

Doctor  G.  F.  Jackson  followed  his  schoolmate 
Rayner,  and  came  to  America  in  1796.  He  was 
also  a  schoolmate  of  Doctor  Arnold,  whose  music 
was  at  that  time  very  popular.  Doctor  Jackson  first 
settled  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  gradually  made  his 
way  to  Boston,  stopping  some  time  in  Alexandria, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York.  He  reached 
Boston  about  18 12,  and  became  organist  of  the 
Brattle  Street  Church.  After  the  war,  during  which 
he  retired  to  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  he  became 
organist  of  King's  Chapel,  then  of  Trinity  Church  and 
then  of  St.  Paul's  Church.  In  his  day  he  was  con- 
sidered the  leading  teacher  of  Boston  and  was  very 
much  respected.  He  gave  concerts  and  oratorios, 
and  appears  to  have  been  a  very  energetic  man,  with 
a  very  excellent  opinion  of  himself,  and  a  rampant 
temper. 

Edward  Hodges  was  one  of  the  numerous  English 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  247 

organists  who  came  to  America  in  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Born  at  Bristol  in  1 796,  he 
became  organist  of  several  churches  in  Bristol  before 
seeking  his  fortune  in  America.  He  took  his  degree 
at  Cambridge  in  1825,  and  went  to  Toronto  in  1838. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  organist  of 
St.  John's  Chapel,  New  York,  where,  in  1846,  he 
inaugurated  the  new  organ  in  Trinity  Church  and 
became  its  organist.  In  1 863,  he  returned  to  England, 
and  died  at  Clifton  four  years  later. 

His  daughter,  who  died  in  New  York  in  1896,  was 
organist  of  several  churches  in  that  city  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  his  son,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  church, 
Baltimore,  is  also  a  fine  organist. 

While  Boston  seems  to  have  been  the  first  musical 
city  in  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  the  Puri- 
tanical element,  which  opposed  everything  in  the 
nature  of  music  or  enjoyment.  New  York  began  to 
advance  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. Trinity  Church,  New  York,  possessed  one 
of  the  earliest  organs  imported  into  this  country. 
This  was  replaced  in  1791,  by  an  instrument  built  by 
Holland  of  London,  which  contained  three  manuals 
and  eighteen  stops.  About  1825,  several  New  York 
churches  had  instruments  of  good  size.  That  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  built  in  London,  had  three  manuals  and 
nineteen  stops.  St.  George's  church  had  an  organ 
built  by  Hall  in  1821,  which  contained  three  manuals 


248  THE    ORGAN-  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

and  pedal  keyboard,  and  twenty-eight  speaking  stops, 
and  was  considered  the  largest  and  most  complete  in 
the  State. 

The  chief  organists  of  New  York  at  this  time  were 
Moran,  Blondell,  and  Taylor. 

For  some  years  Henry  Christian  Timm  was  a 
prominent  organist  in  New  York.  He  held  various 
positions,  but  was  organist  of  the  Unitarian  Church 
on  Broadway  for  eighteen  years,  and  of  All  Soul's 
Church  for  two  years.  Mr.  Timm  was  a  native  of 
Hamburg  (181 1-92),  and  came  to  America  in  1835. 
He  was  a  fine  pianist,  and  gave  concerts  in  numerous 
cities.  He  was  also  connected  with  various  operatic 
enterprises,  in  which  he  did  not  meet  with  much 
success.  For  a  time  he  was  organist  and  musical 
director  of  Grace  Church,  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  For  many  years  he  was  president  of  the 
New  York  Philharmonic  Society,  and  was  one  of  its 
most  ardent  supporters,  but  his  forte  was  that  of  ac- 
companist to  singers  and  instrumentalists. 

The  Handel  and  Haydn  Society  of  Boston,  being 
almost  the  oldest,  and  certainly  one  of  the  most  dig- 
nified and  successful  of  American  musical  societies, 
brings  us  in  touch,  during  its  history,  with  several 
interesting  organists.  Going  back  to'  the  year  181 5, 
we  find  that  at  the  first  performance  of  oratorio,  held 
in  the  "Stone  Chapel  on  School  Street,"  Mr.  Stock- 
well  sat  at  the  organ.      Not  much  is  known  in  these 


THE    ORGAN  AXD  ITS  MASTERS  249 

days  about  Mr.  Stockwell,  but  he  died  in  18 17,  when 
Doctor  Jackson  was  invited  to  become  organist  to 
the  society.  Doctor  Jackson  did  not  accept  the  posi- 
tion offered  him  by  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society. 
On  the  contrary,  he  said  he  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  society  unless  he  could  have  the  whole 
control.  Doctor  Rayner  Taylor,  of  Philadelphia,  was 
therefore  induced  to  play  the  organ  at  several  per- 
formances, but  in  18  18  Samuel  Cooper  was  elected 
organist.  The  following  year,  S.  P.  Taylor,  of  New 
York,  was  elected  organist,  but  he  resigned  in  1820. 

The  society  now  offered  the  position  to  Miss 
Hewitt,  the  daughter  of  a  music  publisher,  organist, 
etc.  Miss  Hewitt  was  regarded  as  a  talented  musi- 
cian. She  had  been  brought  before  the  public  at  the 
age  of  seven  as  a  pianist.  She  married  a  man  named 
Ostinelli,  and  became  the  mother  of  a  singer  of  whom 
Boston  was  particularly  proud,  Signora  Biscaccianti, 
one  of  the  first  American  singers  to  gather  artistic 
laurels  in  Europe. 

Miss  Hewitt  remained  as  organist  of  the  society 
for  ten  years,  when  the  need  of  one  able  to  cope  with 
the  difficulties  of  large  works  being  felt,  Mr.  Zeuner 
was  elected. 

Mr.  Zeuner  officiated  at  the  organ  until  1838,  when 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  society.  He  did  not 
retain  this  office  long,  for  in  1839  he  left  Boston  and 
settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  about   1857, 


250  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  next  organist  was  A.  W.  Hayter,  a  native  of 
Gillingham,  England,  and  a  pupil  of  Doctor  Corfe. 
He  was  born  in  1799,  and  was  organist  at  Hereford 
for  some  years  previous  to  1835,  when  he  was  called 
to  New  York  to  become  organist  of  Grace  Church. 
Two  years  later  he  was  appointed  organist  of  Trinity 
Church,  Boston,  which  post  he  held  for  twenty-five 
years.  Mr.  Hayter  was  an  English  church  organist 
of  the  strictest  kind,  both  as  to  creed  and  playing. 
He  devoted  much  time  to  drilling  the  chorus  of  the 
Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  and  he  practically  con- 
ducted the  performances  from  the  organ  bench.  It 
was  the  function  of  the  president  in  those  days  to 
wield  the  conductor's  baton,  and  while  this  was  still 
done  as  a  matter  of  form,  Hayter  was  in  fact  the  con- 
ductor. It  is  related  of  Mr.  Hayter  that  he  consider- 
ably astonished  the  people  of  Boston  by  actually 
playing  with  his  feet  a  figure  of  two  notes  (tonic  and 
dominant),  in  a  chorus  by  Regini.  This  will  give  an 
idea  of  the  condition  of  organ-playing  when  Mr.  Hay- 
ter reached  this  country. 

In  1857,  his  son,  George  F.  Hayter,  was  appointed 
organist  to  the  society,  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Goodson,  an 
accomplished  English  organist  and  musician,  was 
appointed  conductor  —  the  first  regular  conductor 
of  the  society. 

J.  S.  Dwight  mentions  Mr.  Goodson  as  one  of  the 
first  to  play  Bach  fugues  in  Boston,  —  at  Tremont 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  25  I 

Temple.     He  remained  in  Boston  only  a  few  years 
and  then  sought  his  fortune  in  the  West. 

In  1852  F.  F.  Mueller  was  elected  organist  of  the 
Handel  and  Haydn  Society.  Mr.  Mueller  was  con- 
sidered a  very  good  organist,  and  he  presided  at  the 
instrument  for  five  years.  Mr.  G.  E.  Whiting  tells 
of  his  playing  the  concerto  in  F  of  Rinck  as  an  open- 
ing piece  at  one  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society's 
concerts.  It  was  a  time-honoured  custom  to  begin 
with  an  organ  piece. 

In  1857  Mr.  J.  C.  D.  Parker  was  elected  organist, 
and  he  held  the  office  for  two  years  only, 

James  Cutler  Dunn  Parker,  born  in  Boston  in 
1828,  was  one  of  the  batch  of  young  Americans  who 
went  abroad  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  when  they  returned  brought  with  them  a  leaven 
of  high  ideals  in  music.  Mr.  Parker  was  educated 
for  the  law,  and  was  a  graduate  from  Harvard  Uni- 
versity. In  1 85 1  he  abandoned  the  law  and  went  to 
Leipzig  to  study  music  under  Moscheles  and  Plaidy 
for  pianoforte,  Hauptmann  for  harmony,  and  Richter 
and  Rietz  composition. 

On  his  return  to  Boston,  in  1854,  Mr.  Parker  at 
once  took  a  leading  position  amongst  musicians.  He 
for;Tied  the  "Parker  Club"  in  1862,  for  the  study  of 
vocal  works.  In  1864  he  was  appointed  organist  of 
Trinity  Church,  a  position  which  he  held  until  1891, 
resigning  soon  after  Doctor  Phillips  Brooks  was  made 


252  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Bishop  of  Massachusetts.  For  many  years  Mr. 
Parker  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  teachers  of 
pianoforte  in  Boston.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  the  New  England  Conservatory  of  Music 
when  Doctor  Tourjee  was  labouring  to  build  up  that 
institution.  For  ten  or  more  years  Mr.  Parker  has 
given  up  actual  teaching  and  has  been  examiner  for 
that  conservatory.  He  has  written  some  excellent 
music,  chiefly  choral  works,  but  nothing  especially 
for  the  organ. 

On  Mr.  Parker's  resignation  from  the  Handel 
and  Haydn  Society,  in  1859,  Mr.  B.  J.  Lang  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  organist,  and  has  been 
one  of  the  most  prominent  organists  of  Boston 
during  the  past  half  century.  Mr.  Lang  was  bom  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  1837.  He  was  appointed 
organist  of  the  Somerset  Street  Church  (Doctor 
Neale's),  in  1852.  Three  years  later  he  went  to 
Germany  to  study,  and  on  his  return  at  once  took 
a  prominent  position  in  Boston  musical  circles.  He 
was  organist  of  the  Old  South  Church  for  twenty 
years,  then  of  the  South  Congregational  Church,  and 
for  more  than  the  past  twenty  years,  of  the  historic 
King's  Chapel.  He  was  organist  of  the  Handel  and 
Haydn  Society  for  twenty-five  years.  For  many  years 
Mr.  Lang's  activities  have  been  extensive,  and  he  has 
had  more  to  do  in  the  way  of  conducting  choral 
societies,  etc.,  than  in  organ-playing,  but  in  1863,  when 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  253 

the  Music  Hall  organ  was  inaugurated,  he  was  one 
of  the  performers,  and  afterward  gave  recitals  upon 
the  great  instrument. 

In  1898,  Mr.  Lang  was  elected  conductor  of  the 
Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  and  his  position  as 
organist  was  filled  by  Mr.  Hiram  G.  Tucker,  a  native 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  and  a  pupil  of  Mr. 
Lang.  Mr.  Tucker  is  organist  of  the  Second  Church, 
Copley  Square.  He  is  noted  particularly  for  the 
excellence  of  his  accompaniments.  He  is  also  con- 
ductor of  the  Boston  Singing  Society,  founded  by 
him  in  1901,  and  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  musi- 
cians of  Boston. 

The  erection  of  the  great  organ  in  Boston  Music 
Hall,  in  1863,  was  an  event  of  great  importance  in 
the  musical  history  of  the  United  States,  for  it  not 
only  gave  a  great  stimulus  to  organ-building,  as  may 
be  seen  by  the  number  of  fine  instruments  built 
shortly  after  this  event,  but  it  also  gave  a  great  im- 
petus to  legitimate  organ-playing. 

The  great  majority  of  organs,  previous  to  this  one 
in  Music  Hall,  were  very  defective  instruments,  with 
pedal  keyboard  of  an  octave  and  a  half  ;  a  great  many 
of  the  stops  were  short,  and  there  were  many  imper- 
fections which  robbed  the  organs  of  the  qualities 
which  they  were  supposed  to  possess.  Upon  these 
instruments  the  best  playing  was  impossible.  Mr. 
George  James  Webb,  well-known  in  Boston  musical 


254  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

circles,  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society  in  1840, — 
himself  an  organist,  —  is  said  to  have  declared  that 
previous  to  the  building  of  the  Boston  Music  Hall 
organ,  there  was  not  an  organist  in  Boston  capable 
of  playing  a  first-class  fugue  by  Bach,  The  only 
instrument  in  Boston  which  could  be  called  a  con- 
cert organ  was  that  in  Tremont  Temple. 

Mr.  Webb's  statement  was  rather  sweeping,  though, 
in  a  general  sense,  true.  But  when  the  Music  Hall 
organ  was  installed  a  number  of  organists  were  found 
who  could  play  Bach  fugues,  even  upon  that  great 
unwieldy  instrument,  which  was  so  slow  of  speech  that, 
as  an  organist  once  remarked,  "  You  have  to  begin 
playing  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the  recital  com- 
mences, in  order  to  be  on  time." 

The  history  of  the  Boston  Music  Hall  organ  may 
be  briefly  told.  The  idea  of  placing  in  the  Music  Hall 
an  organ  of  the  highest  type  was  due  to  Doctor 
George  Baxter  Upham  (who  died  in  New  York  early 
in  1902),  and  he,  being  president  of  the  Music  Hall 
Association,  laboured  earnestly  to  bring  about  the 
fulfilment  of  his  desire.  In  1853,  a  committee,  of 
which  Doctor  Upham  was  chairman,  went  to  Europe 
to  see  the  most  noted  organs  and  the  leading  organ- 
builders.  They  were  much  impressed  with  the 
qualities  of  the  organ  then  being  built  by  Walcker, 
of  Ludwigsburg,  for  Ulm  Cathedral,  and  though  no 


THE    ORGAN    OF    THE    OLD    MUSIC    HALL,    BOSTON,    MASS. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  255 

definite  action  in  the  matter  was  taken  until  1856, 
the  opinion  of  the  committee  was  in  favour  of  E.  F, 
Walcker  and  Son. 

In  1856,  the  Music  Hall  corporation  decided  to 
appropriate  ten  thousand  dollars,  if  an  additional  sum 
of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  could  be  raised  by  public 
subscription,  it  being  estimated  that  it  would  cost 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  import  such  an  organ 
as  would  "  stand,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  not  for  decades 
only,  but  for  centuries  of  years." 

Before  the  organ  was  ready  for  shipment  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  had  broken  out,  and  only  after  many 
difficulties  and  delays  did  the  instrument  reach  its 
destination.  It  was  erected,  but,  owing  to  the  cir- 
cumstances into  which  the  country  had  been 
plunged  by  the  war,  the  cost  of  the  instrument, 
when  ready  for  inauguration,  was  nearly  seventy 
thousand  dollars. 

On  October  31,  1863,  a  private  test  of  the  great 
instrument  took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  stock- 
holders and  their  friends.  On  this  occasion  the 
organists  who  played  were  John  H.  Willcox  and  B.  J. 
Lang  of  Boston,  and  Eugene  Thayer  of  Worcester, 
Massachusetts. 

On  the  following  Monday  (November  2),  the 
inauguration  took  place  with  solemn  ceremony.  In 
order  to  show  what  could  be  played  by  organists 
of  that  time,  the  following  was  the  programme ; 


256  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

PART    I. 

1.  Ode,  recited  by  Miss  Charlotte  Cushman. 

2.  Opening  of  the  organ  by  Herr  Friedrich  Walker. 

3.  a.  Grand  Toccata  in  F Bach 

b.  Trio  Sonata  in  E-flat,  for  two  manuals  and  pedal .     Bach 

John  K.  Paine,  Organist  of   the  West  Church,  Boston,  and 
Professor  of  Music  at  the  Harvard  University. 

4.  Grand  Fugue  in  G-minor Bach 

W.  Eugene  Thayer  of  Worcester. 

PART    II. 

1.  Grand  Double  Chorus,  "  He  led  them  through  the  deep," 

and  Chorus,  "  But  the  waters  overwhelmed  their  enemies," 
from  "  Israel  in  Egypt."  .....       Hdtidel 
George  W.  Morgan,  Organist  of  Christ  Church,  New  York. 

2.  Grand  Sonata  in  A,  No.  3  .         .         .        Mendelssohn 
B.  J.  Lang,  Organist   of  the  Old   South  Church  and  of  the 

Handel  and  Haydn  Society. 

3.  a.  Lamentation  in  Parasceve     ....  Palestrina 

b.  Kyrie  and  Sanctus,  from  a  Mass   .         .         .  Palestrina 

c.  Movement  from  the  Anthem  "  O  Give  Thanks  " 

Ptircell 
Dr.  S.  P.  Tuckerman,  Organist  at  St.  Paul's  Church. 

4.  Offertoire  in  G  .         .  .         .         .         .     Lefcbiire-Wely 

John  H.  Willcox,  Organist  at  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate 

Conception. 

5.  Hallelujah  Chorus Handel 

G.  W.  Morgan. 

The  Boston  Music  Hall  organ  immediately  became 
an  object  of  interest  to  all  visitors  to  the  city.  Re- 
citals were  frequently  given  upon  it,  and  it  helped 
greatly  to  increase,  or  at  least  maintain,  Boston's 
reputation  as  a  musical  centre. 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  2$/ 

A  few  years  rolled  by,  and  other  interests  arose. 
The  Symphony  Orchestra  was  founded,  and  it  was 
discovered  that  the  great  organ  interfered  seriously 
with  the  acoustic  properties  of  the  hall.  In  order 
to  secure  the  best  results  from  the  orchestra  it  was 
decided  to  sacrifice  the  organ,  a  decision  which 
was  not  reached  without  bitter  opposition.  In  1884 
the  organ  was  sold  and  removed.  It  was  bought  by 
the  Hon.  William  Grover,  in  the  interest  of  Doctor 
Eben  Tourj^e,  founder  and  director  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Conservatory  of  Music.  The  intention  was  to 
build  a  large  hall  and  install  the  organ  therein,  and 
keep  it  up  to  its  former  function  of  "  Mecca,"  for 
music  students  and  visitors  from  all  over  the  country. 

There  was  some  difficulty  about  securing  the  land 
on  which  to  build  a  hall,  and  the  matter  was  obliged 
to  rest  for  a  time,  during  which  the  organ  was  stored 
away  in  a  shed.  In  the  meantime.  Doctor  Tourjee 
fell  into  bad  health,  and  died  —  in  1891.  In  1896 
Mr.  Grover  also  died,  and  the  executors  decided  to 
sell  the  instrument. 

The  price  realised  was  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

Thirty-four  years  after  its  installation,  this  great 
and  fine  instrument,  which  was  to  stand  not  for 
decades  only,  but  for  centuries  of  years,  was  sold 
at  auction,  in  the  presence  of  about  twenty  people, 
for  the  miserable,  paltry  sum  of  fifteen  hundred 
dollars. 


258  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

This  seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  painful  instances 
of  the  rapidity  of  progress  in  American  life,  —  some- 
thing of  which  the  nation  can  be  proud,  perhaps,  but 
which  has  its  sad  moments. 

Many  old  organs  have  been  improved  and  re- 
modelled from  time  to  time,  and  thus  kept  up  to 
date,  but  the  history  of  the-  Boston  Music  Hall 
instrument  goes  to  show  that  when  once  an  organ 
is  pulled  down  and  removed,  the  progress  of  a  few 
years  will  render  it  hopelessly  behind  the  times. 

The  organ  in  the  Shawmut  Congregational  Church 
in  Boston  is  one  which  supports  this  theory,  and  is 
besides  an  instrument  of  considerable  interest,  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  organ  in 
America  in  which  the  tubular-pneumatic  action  was 
used,  though  only  to  a  limited  extent.  This  organ 
was  built  in  1866  and  had  three  manuals,  sixty-three 
stops,  of  which  fifty-three  were  speaking  stops,  and 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  pipes. 
It  has  been  repaired  from  time  to  time,  and  in  1 899 
was  remodelled,  and  is  quite  likely  to  last  as  long 
as  the  church,  if  proper  care  is  taken  of  it.  No  such 
dismal  waste  as  that  of  the  old  Music  Hall  organ 
is  on  record. 

Samuel  Parkman  Tuckerman  was  one  of  the 
prominent  organists  of  America  during  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Born  at  Boston  in  18 19,  he 
became  a  pupil  of  Carl  Zeuner,  and  in  1 840  became 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  2$g 

organist  and  choirmaster  of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  his 
native  city.  In  1849  he  went  abroad  and  spent 
several  years  studying  the  organ  in  various  English 
cathedral  towns,  taking  the  degree  of  Mus.  Doc,  at 
Lambeth,  in  1853.  When  he  returned  to  America 
he  gave  many  lectures  of  church  music,  and  his  name 
is  to  be  found  frequei>tly  in  records  of  organ-playing 
in  and  near  Boston.  For  many  years  he  resided  in 
Switzerland  and  in  England.  He  wrote  some  church 
music,  and  edited  various  collections  of  hymn  and 
other  church  music.  His  death  occurred  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  in  1890. 

George  Washburn  Morgan,  who  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, at  Gloucester,  in  1822,  played  an  important 
part  in  the  development  of  organ-playing  in  the 
United  States.  He  was  a  precocious  child,  and  is 
said  to  have  played  an  entire  service  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  his  native  town  at  the  age  of  eight.  He  went 
through  the  usual  training,  and  held  various  positions. 
In  London  he  made  some  public  appearances  at 
Exeter  Hall  and  elsewhere. 

Mr.  Morgan  arrived  in  New  York  in  1853,  and 
was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Thomas's  Church,  where 
he  remained  for  one  year,  being  then  called  to  Grace 
Church,  where  he  remained  for  thirteen  years.  He 
was  next  the  organist  at  St.  Ann's  Church,  and  then 
at  Doctor  Talmage's  Brooklyn  Tabernacle,  where  he 
remained  for  fourteen  years. 


26o  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

Mr.  Morgan's  organ-playing  was  considered  re- 
markable, especially  his  pedalling ;  in  fact,  he  was 
considered  the  first  concert  organist  to  settle  in 
America.  In  Boston  he  created  a  sensation  by  his 
playing  at  Tremont  Temple  in  1859,  ^^^  some  years 
later,  when  the  great  organ  in  Music  Hall  was  opened, 
Mr.  Morgan  was  one  of  the  organists  who  played  at 
the  inauguration  ceremony.  In  1876  he  was  engaged 
by  Roosevelt  and  by  Messrs.  Hook,  the  organ-builders, 
to  display  their  instruments  at  the  Philadelphia  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
organist  to  play  the  works  of  Bach  and  Mendelssohn 
in  concert  performances  in  the  United  States,  but  he 
did  not  adhere  to  the  strictly  classical  in  his  concerts, 
for  he  frequently  played  operatic  overtures,  adapted 
from  pianoforte  scores.  His  "masterpiece"  was  the 
overture  to  "William  Tell." 

From  1886  to  1888  Mr.  Morgan  was  organist  of 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  New  York,  and  this 
was  the  last  position  which  he  held.  Four  years 
after  leaving  it  he  died  at  Tacoma,  Washington. 

John  Henry  Will  cox,  who  was  the  great  rival  of 
Morgan,  was  a  native  of  Savannah,  Georgia,  born  in 
1827.  He  was  educated  at  Trinity  College,  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  graduating  in  1849.  In  the  following 
year  he  became  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Boston, 
succeeding  Doctor  Tuckerman,  and  later  became  or- 
ganist of  the  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 


THE    ORGAN  AiVD   ITS  MASTERS  26 1 

when  a  large  instrument  was  erected  there  in  1863. 
This  position  he  held  until  1874,  and  the  following 
year  he  died. 

Doctor  Willcox  (his  degree  was  conferred  by 
Georgetown  College)  was  prominent  as  an  organist 
in  New  England  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was 
very  clever  at  showing  off  a  new  organ,  playing 
pieces  with  soft  and  delicate  effects,  but  he  was  not 
technically  equipped  as  an  organist  of  the  present 
day  should  be,  or  as  many  of  those  who  were  his 
contemporaries.  He  was,  however,  a  pleasing  and 
popular  player. 

The  first  pubHc  appearance  of  Doctor  Willcox  in 
Boston  was  told  by  one  who  was  present,  in  the 
following  words,  and  there  is  an  additional  reason  for 
quoting  them,  viz.,  that  the  affair  took  place  at  one 
of  the  celebrated  conventions  of  Lowell  Mason.  It 
was  at  the  closing  session  of  the  convention,  and  in 
the  afternoon.  The  time  was  being  devoted  to  an 
informal  programme,  to  which  the  most  distinguished 
musicians  present  contributed  their  services. 

"Mr.  Silas  A.  Bancroft,"  says  our  historian,  "then 
organist  at  Doctor  Kirk's,  had  just  left  the  grand 
piano,  on  the  stage,  leaving  Doctor  Mason  standing 
at  the  footlights  alone.  He  (Doctor  Mason)  an- 
nounced that  Miss  Bothamly  would  sing  '  On  Mighty 
Pens,'  and  called  for  a  volunteer  accompanist.  None 
responded ;  but  just  in  the  nick  of  time  a  door  up  the 


262  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Stage  opened,  and  there  appeared  a  handsome  young 
fellow  of  some  twenty  summers,  blonde,  lithe,  grace- 
ful, and  self-possessed.  Closing  the  door  gently,  he 
came  down  the  stage  and  took  a  chair  in  a  depreca- 
tory way,  just  as  there  arose  from  the  audience  cries 
of'Willcox.' 

*'  Doctor  Mason  appeared  puzzled,  and  looked 
helplessly  over  the  hall.  The  other  actors  in  the 
little  play  continued  calling,  until  Doctor  Mason 
asked  : 

"  '  Will  Mr.  Willcox  come  forward  } ' 

" '  He's  on  the  stage,  sir,'  was  the  reply. 

"  Doctor  Mason  turned  ;  Mr.  Willcox  arose,  came 
forward,  and  took  the  proffered  hand,  and,  in  reply  to 
the  repeated  request  to  accompany  the  singer,  per- 
mitted the  usual  conventional  protestations  of  ina- 
bility to  be  swept  away  and  went  to  the  instrument. 
It  was  not  a  Herculean  task,  and  it  need  not  be  said 
that  it  was  well  done.  It  was  a  novelty  in  the  way 
of  introductions,  and  gave  the  newcomer  a  substan- 
tial position  before  the  musical  public. 

"  It  was  not  until  a  later  period  that  he  was  known 
as  an  organist,  nor  did  he  display  marked  ability  in 
that  role.  But  he  was  an  aspiring  student,  and  his 
public  performances,  which  were  mostly  at  the  exhi- 
bitions of  new  organs,  gave  positive  signs  of  continued 
application.  It  was  particularly  noticeable  after  his 
connection  with  the  establishment   of  the   Messrs, 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  263 

Hook,  where  he  got  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
organ  and  its  resources. 

"  For  a  long  time  his  organ  repertoire  consisted  of 
five  or  six  overtures,  and  these  were  produced  upon 
every  occasion,  until  habitual  listeners  began  to  descant 
upon  the  apparent  improvement  since  the  last  per- 
formance. I  am  quite  positive  these  overtures  were 
of  the  list  described ;  if  there  were  six  I  cannot  recall 
the  other,  nor  am  I  entirely  confident  as  to  the  '  Tell ' 
overture:  '  Egmont,'  'Martha,'  '  Zannetta,'  '  Zanopa,' 
'  William  Tell.' 

"  With  the  mechanical  knowledge  of  the  instrument 
acquired  at  the  factory,  there  came  a  change  of  this 
programme,  and  improvisation  and  trick-playing,  of 
which  the  '  Thunder  Storm  '  was  a  type,  took  the 
place  of  the  earlier,  stereotyped  performance. 

"  Doctor  Willcox's  extempore  performances  always 
impressed  me  with  a  feeling  that  he  was  over-con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  he  was  on  trial,  and  that  a 
poetic  imagination  was  held  severely  in  check,  in  order 
that  he  might  not  be  led  to  overstep  the  most  exact 
requirements  of  musical  form.  When  he  played 
from  score,  few  instances  of  which  came  to  my  notice, 
I  received  a  very  different  impression,  as  if  the  player 
felt  a  relief  in  having  his  boundaries  marked  out  for 
him  in  advance,  and  self-restraint  became  no  longer  a 
necessity." 

Storm  effects  seem  to  have  been  the  most  popular, 


264  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

or  at  least  to  have  offered  a  fine  opportunity  for  the 
newspaper  writer's  powers  of  description.  To  show 
that  these  exhibitions  of  "illegitimate"  organ-playing 
are  not  and  have  not  been  confined  to  America  we 
may  be  permitted  to  quote  the  following  account  of 
an  organ-recital  given  not  very  many  years  ago  at 
Freiburg.  The  first  part  of  this  description  may  be 
omitted,  as  it  refers  to  such  commonplace  matters 
as  choral  selections  and  Bach  fugues,  and  we  will 
commence  at  the  part  where  "at  last  the  organist 
gathered  himself  up  for  his  grand  and  final  effort." 

"  By  this  time  the  shades  of  evening  were  gather- 
ing in,  and  the  cathedral  was  filled  with  a  gradually 
deepening  gloom,  to  which  the  faint  lights  of  three 
lamps  lent  a  picturesque  effect.  Overhead,  in  the 
organ-loft,  the  tall  metal  pipes  of  the  instrument 
towered  ghastly  and  grim,  their  apathetic  stillness 
contrasting  strangely  with  the  volume  of  sound  they 
poured  forth,  and  a  red  light  began  to  glow  beneath 
them,  where  the  player  sat  amidst  his  curtains  like 
an  enchanter  in  his  cave.  We  are  going  to  have 
'The  Storm.'  Hark!  a  village  choir  singing  vespers 
in  a  church  in  the  mountains.  How  beautifully  that 
stop  comes  in  !  We  hear  the  choristers ;  one,  two, 
—  then  other  voices  joining,  as  the  full  anthem  rises 
and  swells,  and  the  service  goes  on.  Presently  the 
regular  beat  of  a  bell.  What  is  it  .-*  Is  it  a  bell 
calling  to  the  service,  or  a  bell  announcing  the  ap- 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  265 

proach  of  the  storm  ?  If  the  latter  —  here  comes  the 
storm  muttering  in  the  distance,  gathering  strength 
and  rolUng  on  ;  and  at  last,  after  a  sudden  crash, 
which  makes  you  fancy  you  can  almost  see  the  zig- 
zag lightning  plunging  its  sharp  lance  points  into  the 
earth,  we  hear  a  terrible  peal  of  thunder  bursting 
through  the  aisles  of  the  cathedral,  and  shaking  the 
very  walls,  and  making  the  lady  who  sits  not  far 
from  us  clutch  her  husband's  arm  in  most  unaffected 
terror.  It  is  an  absolutely  perfect  imitation.  The 
organist  must  have  studied  storms.  Even  two  of  us 
who  have  dabbled  considerably  in  organ-playing, 
glance  hastily  to  the  windows  to  look  for  the  storm- 
clouds.  Half  ashamed  of  the  involuntary  movement, 
we  turn  back  and  gaze  at  the  tall,  weird  organ-pipes, 
at  the  glow  beneath,  and  listen.  The  storm  rages  as 
storms  do,  and  sometimes  we  hear  through  its  bursts 
the  village  choir,  with  its  wonderful  voices,  singing 
their  hymns.  The  storm  rolls  and  dies  away  in  the 
distance,  as  storms  do,  and  the  anthem  grows  clearer 
and  more  triumphant.  But  it  too  dies  away  at  last 
and  leaves  nothing  but  stillness  in  your  ear." 

Only  rain  was  wanting  to  make  this  storm  a  per- 
fect imitation,  and  this,  in  these  modem  days,  could 
easily  be  provided  by  means  of  perforated  water- 
pipes,  without  great  expense,  and  probably  with  the 
effect  of  reducing  the  insurance  premiums  on  concert 
halls  fitted  up  in  this  way. 


266  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

Stephen  Austen  Pearce  is  one  of  the  many  good 
EngUsh  organists  who  came  to  America  and  decided 
to  remain. 

Born  in  London  in  1836,  he  became  a  pupil  of 
J.  L.  Hopkins,  and  took  his  degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  at 
Oxford  in  1859,  and  that  of  Mus.  Doc.  in  1864. 
Immediately  afterward  he  made  a  trip  to  America, 
visiting  both  the  United  States  and  Canada.  On  his 
return  he  became  organist  at  two  churches  in  London, 
where  he  remained  until  1872,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed instructor  of  vocal  music  at  Columbia  Col- 
lege in  New  York,  and  lecturer  on  various  musical 
subjects  at  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  Pea- 
body  Institute,  and  Johns  Hopkins  University  of  Bal- 
timore. He  was  organist  of  the  Collegiate  Church, 
Fifth  Avenue  and  Forty-Eighth  Street,  New  York, 
from  1879  to  1885. 

Doctor  Pearce  has  written  some  music,  chiefly 
choral,  and  has  been  a  contributor  to  several  peri- 
odicals and  papers. 

Eugene  Whitney  Thayer,  born  at  Mendon,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  1838,  was  a  prominent  organist  for 
several  years.  In  1862,  he  was  one  of  the  organists 
who  assisted  at  the  opening  of  the  Boston  Music 
Hall  organ.  In  1865,  he  went  to  Germany  and 
studied  under  Haupt,  Wieprecht,  and  others  for  a 
year.  On  his  return  to  America  he  became  organist 
at  Music  Hall  in  Boston,  where  he  gave  many  free 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  26) 

organ  recitals.  He  also  played  in  many  of  the  large 
cities  both  on  this  continent  and  in  Europe.  He  was 
conductor  of  several  choral  societies.  In  1881  he 
became  organist  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  York,  and  held  that  position  until 
1888.  He  died  at  Burlington,  Vermont,  early  in 
1889. 

George  W.  Warren  was  born  in  Albany,  New  York, 
in  1828,  and  was  educated  at  Racine  University. 
As  a  musician  he  was  self-taught,  but  his  ability  and 
talent  were  such  that  he  was  appointed  organist  of 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Albany,  a  position  which  he 
held  from  1846  till  1858.  In  i860  he  went  to 
Brooklyn,  to  Holy  Trinity  Church,  where  he  re- 
mained ten  years  as  organist,  leaving  to  go  to  St. 
Thomas's,  in  New  York.  In  1887  he  was  honoured 
by  a  degree  from  the  University  of  Leipzig,  and  on 
the  completion  of  his  twenty-fifth  year  at  St. 
Thomas's,  a  special  commemorative  service  was  held 
in  his  honour,  and  he  retired  at  the  end  of  thirty 
years'  service  as  "organist  emeritus."  He  worked 
hard  up  to  the  day  of  retirement.  He  died  suddenly 
early  in  1902.  One  of  his  sons  is  Richard  Henry 
Warren,  musical  director  of  St.  Bartholomew's 
Church. 

John  Knowles  Paine,  professor  of  music  at  Har- 
vard University  since  1876,  is  one  of  the  foremost 
American  composers  and  teachers,  and  was  one  of 


268  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

the  first,  if  not  the  very  first  American  concert 
organist  possessing  the  complete  organ  technique, 
according  to  German  standards. 

Born  in  Portland,  Maine,  in  1839,  he  studied 
music  in  his  native  city  under  Mr.  Kotschmar,  and 
made  his  first  appearance  as  an  organist  at  Portland 
in  1857.  In  the  following  year  he  went  abroad  to 
study,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Haupt,  Wieprecht,  and 
others.  On  his  return  to  America  in  1861,  he  soon 
became  noted  as  an  excellent  player,  and  on  the 
opening  of  the  Boston  Music  Hall  organ  was  one  of 
those  who  were  invited  to  play  at  the  inaugural  cere- 
monies. He  was  at  that  time  organist  of  the  West 
Church,  Boston,  and  teacher  of  music  at  Harvard, 
the  professorship  being  created  in   1876. 

During  these  later  years  J.  K.  Paine  the  organist 
has  been  overshadowed  by  J.  K.  Paine  the  composer, 
and  in  this  broader  and  higher  branch  of  the  musical 
art  Professor  Paine  stands  in  the  front  rank,  if  not  at 
the  head  of  his  American  brothers. 

Amongst  American  musicians  the  name  of  Dudley 
Buck  is  deservedly  prominent,  for  he  is  not  only 
one  of  the  foremost  organists,  but  also  was  one  of 
the  first  American  composers  to  obtain  general 
recognition. 

Born  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  1839,  ^^  '^^^^ 
intended  for  a  mercantile  life,  but  so  great  was  his 
desire   for   a    musical    career   that   he   succeeded  in 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  269 

acquiring  sufficient  knowledge  and  ability,  without 
instruction,  to  enable  him  to  play  the  accompani- 
ments to  the  masses  of  Haydn  and  Mozart.  His 
father  now  offered  every  possible  assistance,  and  the 
boy  became  a  pupil  of  W.  J.  Babcock,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  He  was  occasionally  employed  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  regular  organist  at  St.  John's  Church, 
Hartford,  and  retained  the  position  until  he  went  to 
Europe  in  1858.  Previous  to  his  departure  he  had 
been  a  student,  for  three  years,  at  Trinity  College, 
Hartford. 

Of  the  four  years  which  he  now  spent  in  Europe, 
eighteen  months  were  at  Leipzig,  where  he  studied 
theory  and  composition  under  Hauptmann  and 
Richter,  orchestration  and  musical  form  under  Rietz, 
and  the  piano  under  Plaidy  and  Moscheles.  Buck 
then  went  to  Dresden  to  study  Bach  under  Schneider, 
and  at  the  same  time  he  continued  his  studies  with 
Rietz,  who  had  been  appointed  director  of  the  Royal 
Opera  at  Dresden.  The  next  year  was  spent  in 
Paris,  and  in  1862  he  returned  to  Hartford,  where  he 
was  appointed  organist  of  the  Park  Church.  In 
1868,  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  was  for  three  years 
organist  of  the  St.  James's  Church,  where  he  ac- 
quired an  excellent  reputation  both  as  composer  and 
performer.  Disaster  overtook  him  in  the  great 
fire,  and  his  house,  library,  and  several  valuable 
manuscripts  were  destroyed. 


2/0  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Dudley  Buck  was  now  called  to  Boston,  where  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Church  and  of  the 
Music  Hall,  and  subsequently  of  the  Shawmut  Con- 
gregational Church.  But  New  York  held  out  greater 
prospects,  and  in  1874  he  became  assistant  conduc- 
tor of  the  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra,  and  musical 
director  at  St.  Ann's  Church,  a  position  which  he 
held  until  1877,  when  he  was  appointed  organist  of 
Holy  Trinity,  Brooklyn.  This  position  he  held  until 
1902,  when  he  became  organist  of  the  Brooklyn  Tab- 
ernacle. At  Holy  Trinity  he  was  succeeded  by 
Samuel  A.  Baldwin, 

Dudley  Buck's  compositions  embrace  nearly  every 
variety  of  music,  but  for  the  organ  he  has  contributed 
some  valuable  works,  viz.,  Grand  Sonata  in  E-fiat ; 
Sonata  No.  2  in  G-minor ;  "  Triumphal  March  ; " 
"  Impromptu  and  Pastoral  Rondo-Caprice  ;  "  "  Idylle, 
At  Evening;"  "Four  Tone  Pictures;"  various 
transcriptions  and  sets  of  variations ;  "  Eighteen 
Pedal-phrasing  Studies  ; "  "  Illustrations  in  Choir- 
accompanying,"  with    hints  on    registration. 

Mr.  Buck's  compositions  have  been  received  with 
great  favour  by  musicians  of  all  grades.  He  is  a 
master  of  the  art  of  colouring  as  well  as  of  form,  and 
in  all  his  compositions,  vocal  or  instrumental,  there 
is  displayed  a  technical  knowledge  of  the  resources 
of  the  means  employed,  combined  with  an  artistic 
treatment,  which  has  earned  the  warmest  praise  from 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  2/1 

the  most  critical  judges.  The  strictness  of  his  early 
training  has  not  interfered  with  the  play  of  his  fancy 
or  the  freedom  of  his  invention. 

Samuel  Prowse  Warren  is  a  native  of  Montreal 
(1841),  the  son  of  a  Rhode  Islander,  who  had  moved 
to  Montreal  to  carry  on  his  trade  of  organ-builder. 
Brought  up  amidst  the  surroundings  of  the  organ 
factory,  the  boy  naturally  became  familiar  with  the 
instrument,  and  when  quite  young  became  organist 
of  the  American  church  in  his  native  city.  In  1861, 
having  passed  through  college,  he  went  to  Europe  to 
complete  his  musical  education.  He  studied  for 
three  years  in  Berlin,  under  Haupt  for  organ,  Wie- 
precht  for  instrumentation,  and  Gustav  Schumann  for 
pianoforte. 

In  1864  he  returned  to  Montreal,  but  shortly  after- 
ward went  to  New  York,  where  he  became  organist 
of  All  Souls'  Church,  where  he  remained  for  four 
years.  His  next  appointment  was  to  Grace  Church, 
where  he  remained  for  many  years,  except  from 
1874-76,  when  he  was  at  Trinity  Church. 

Mr.  Warren's  repertoire  is  extensive,  and  his  tech- 
nique admirable.  For  many  years  he  has  been  one 
of  the  most  able  concert  organists  in  the  country, 
his  recitals  in  New  York  City  alone  numbering  sev- 
eral hundred. 

George  Elbridge  Whiting,  a  native  of  Holliston, 
Massachusetts  (1842),  has  been  one  of  the  foremost 


2/2  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

American  organists  for  many  years.  He  came  of  a 
musical  family,  and  commenced  his  own  studies  at 
the  age  of  five,  appearing  as  organist  in  a  concert  at 
Worcester  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  Two  years  later 
he  became  organist  of  the  North  Congregational 
Church  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  where  he  succeeded 
Dudley  Buck. 

In  1862  he  moved  to  Boston,  and  became  organist, 
first  in  Doctor  Kirk's  church,  and  afterward  at 
Tremont  Temple.  He  gave  concerts  on  the  organ 
then  recently  installed  in  Music  Hall,  and  on  many 
other  large  organs  in  various  places,  and  was  much 
in  demand  as  a  concert  organist.  He  carried  on  his 
studies  during  this  period  with  G.  W.  Morgan,  of  New 
York.  In  1863  Mr.  Whiting  went  to  England,  where 
he  studied  under  W.  T.  Best,  for  whom  he  frequently 
acted  as  deputy  in  his  various  churches. 

On  his  return  to  America,  Whiting  was  appointed 
organist  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  at  Albany,  where  he 
remained  for  three  years.  An  interesting  fact  con- 
nected with  his  Albany  engagement  was  that  Emma 
Lajeunesse,  who,  a  few  years  later,  achieved  world-wide 
renown  as  an  opera  and  oratorio  singer,  under  the  name 
of  Madame  Albani,  was  a  member  of  his  choir. 

Mr.  Whiting  once  more  moved  to  Boston,  and  held 
the  position  of  organist  and  choir  director  at  the  his- 
toric King's  Chapel  for  a  period  of  five  years,  and 
organist  of  Music  Hall  for  one  year. 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  2/3 

In  1874  Mr.  Whiting  went  abroad  and  visited 
Berlin,  where  he  studied  harmony  with  Haupt  and 
orchestration  with  Radecke,  On  his  return  to  Bos- 
ton he  became  principal  organ  teacher  at  the  New 
England  Conservatory  of  Music,  a  position  which  he 
held,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  interval  (during 
which  he  was  in  Cincinnati),  until  1898.  In  this  posi- 
tion he  has  had,  as  pupils,  many  young  musicians  who 
have  become  noted  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  his  influence  as  a  teacher  has  thus  been 
felt  throughout  the  country. 

In  1879  Whiting  received  and  accepted  a  call 
from  Theodore  Thomas,  who  was  director  of  the 
Cincinnati  Conservatory,  to  fill  the  position  of  profes- 
sor of  organ-playing  in  that  institution.  He  ac- 
cepted the  call  and  remained  in  Cincinnati  until 
1882,  during  which  time  he  opened  the  big  Cincin- 
nati organ,  and  gave  many  recitals. 

On  his  return  to  Boston  from  Cincinnati,  Mr. 
Whiting  accepted  the  appointment  of  organist  and 
choirmaster  at  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, a  position  which  he  has  held  ever  since. 

The  reputation  of  Mr.  Whiting  as  a  composer  is 
equal  to  that  which  he  has  earned  as  organist  and 
teacher.  He  has  written  two  masses  for  voice,  or- 
chestra, and  organ,  and  a  number  of  organ  pieces, 
which  are  in  constant  use  both  in  church  and  con- 
cert. 


274  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Samuel  B.  Whitney,  who,  since  1871,  has  been  or- 
ganist and  choirmaster  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent  in 
Boston,  is  known  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  direc- 
tors of  church  music  in  America.  He  was  born  in 
Woodstock,  Vermont,  in  1 842,  studied  under  various 
teachers,  and  was  appointed  organist  of  Christ 
Church,  Montpelier,  Vermont.  In  1870  he  came  to 
Boston  and  studied  under  J.  K.  Paine,  assisting  him 
also  as  organist  of  Appleton  Chapel,  until  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Church  of  the  Advent. 

Mr.  Whitney  has  been  organiser  and  conductor  of 
many  festivals,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
highly  respected  organ-teachers  in  America. 

Isaac  Van  Vleck  Flagler,  a  native  of  Albany,  New 
York  (1844),  has  been  well  known  for  many  years  as 
a  concert  and  church  organist,  and  teacher.  He  stud- 
ied music  first  under  H.  W.  A.  Beale,  at  Albany, 
and  when  he  went  abroad,  became  a  pupil  of  the 
celebrated  organist  Batiste,  and  others.  On  his  re- 
turn to  America  he  became  organist  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Albany.  He  was  for  eight 
years  organist  of  the  Plymouth  Church  at  Chicago, 
and  then  went  to  Auburn,  New  York,  where  he  has 
been  organist  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  for 
many  years. 

Mr.  Flagler  has  also  been  professor  of  organ  in 
several  noted  educational  institutions.  As  a  per- 
former he  is  noted  for  brilliant  and  facile  technique. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  2/5 

smooth  pedalling,  and  good  judgment  in  registra- 
tion. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American 
Guild  of  Organists,  has  been  lecturer  and  organist  at 
the  Chautauqua  Assemblies  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  has  written  and  published  a  number  of  pieces  for 
the  organ,  chiefly  of  a  popular  kind. 

Edward  Morris  Bowman,  a  native  of  Barnard,  Ver- 
mont, became  a  pupil  of  J.  P.  Morgan  in  New  York. 
In  1867  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  occupied 
various  positions  as  organist  until  1887,  when  he 
received  a  call  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Brook- 
lyn. During  this  period  Mr.  Bowman  went  abroad 
for  study  several  times.  In  1872-73  he  was  in  Berlin 
and  studied  organ  under  Rohde  and  Haupt,  and  for 
a  short  time  in  Paris  with  Batiste.  In  1881  he  went 
abroad  again  and  studied  with  Bridge,  Turpin,  and 
Guilmant.  He  also  passed  the  examination  of  the 
Royal  College  of  organists  in  London,  being  the  first 
American  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Bowman  was  one  of  the  founders  and  presi- 
dent of  the  American  College  of  Musicians.  He  was 
professor  of  music  at  Vassar  College  from  1891  to 
1895,  and  he  was  the  organiser  of  the  "Temple 
Choir"  in  Brooklyn,  besides  which  he  is  conductor 
of  various  choral  societies. 

Louis  Falk  has  been  for  many  years  one  of  the 
prominent  organists  of  Chicago.  Born  in  Germany 
in  1848,  he  came  with  his  parents  to  America  when 


2/6  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

two  years  of  age.  They  eventually  settled  in  Roch- 
ester, New  York,  where  the  boy  began  his  musical 
education,  and  secured  his  first  organist's  appoint- 
ment. In  1861  he  moved  to  Chicago  and  became 
organist  of  the  Chutch  of  the  Holy  Name,  a  position 
which  he  held  for  four  years.  He  now  went  abroad 
and  studied  at  Homberg  and  Leipzig,  graduating  from 
the  conservatory  after  a  two  years'  course.  On  his 
return  to  Chicago  Mr.  Falk  became  organist  of 
the  Church  of  the  Unity  and  a  member  of  the  fac- 
ulty of  the  Chicago  Musical  College,  He  was  one 
of  the  first  to  make  organ  recitals  popular  in  Chi- 
cago. 

Nathan  H.  Allen,  born  at  Marion,  Massachusetts 
(1848),  has  long  been  prominent  as  organist  of  the 
Centre  Church,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  where  his 
good  influence  has  been  felt.  He  studied  under 
Haupt  for  three  years,  returning  to  America  in  1870, 
and  setthng  in  Hartford,  where  he  has  been  ever 
since. 

Hervi  D.  Wilkins,  born  in  Italy,  New  York,  in 
1848,  began  his  musical  career  at  the  age  of  seven 
as  a  choir  boy,  and  continued  as  a  chorister  until,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  he  became  organist  of  a  church 
at  Auburn,  New  York.  He  went  to  Germany  and 
studied  under  Haupt  and  other  noted  teachers,  and 
on  his  return  to  his  native  land  gave  many  organ 
recitals   in  various  parts  of   the   country.     He    has 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  2// 

been,  for  many  years,  organist  in  Rochester,  New 
York,  where  he  also  teaches  piano  and  singing. 

Horace  Wadham  Nichol  was  bom  at  Tipton,  near 
Birmingham,  England,  and  held  positions  at  Dudley 
and  at  Stoke-on-Trent  from  1867*  to  1871,  when  he 
was  induced  by  an  American  gentleman  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  later 
at  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  during  which 
period  he  gave  many  recitals  in  that  section  of  the 
country.  In  1878  he  went  to  New  York,  where  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Mark's  Church.  He  now 
entered  into  journalistic  work,  and  wrote  many  arti- 
cles for  the  musical  papers,  besides  which  he  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  teacher. 

Mr.  Nichol  has  written  much  music  for  the  organ, 
including  a  fantasia,  preludes,  and  fugues  and  melodic 
pieces. 

He  is  spoken  of  as  the  most  talented  organist  who 
played  on  the  St.  Paul's  organ  at  Pittsburg,  and  in 
this  connection  the  following  account,  consisting  of 
extracts  from  an  article  published  in  the  Musical 
Courier  in  1901,  will  be  interesting.  The  occasion 
of  the  article  was  the  removal  of  the  old  organ  from 
St.  Paul's,  preparatory  to  the  erection  of  a  still 
finer  instrument.  This  old  organ  was  noted  for  its 
carillons. 

Almost  all  that  is  historical  is  associated  with  the 


2/8  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

older  cities,  —  Boston,  New  York,  etc.,  —  therefore  it 
is  interesting  to  have  some  historical  account  of  the 
progress  of  the  organ  in  the  younger  cities,  of  which 
Pittsburg  is  one  of  the  most  progressive. 

"  Beautiful  and  sorrowful  memories  attend  the 
dismantling  of  the  old  organ  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
on  Grant  Street.  In  its  day  it  was  by  far  the  great- 
est and  finest  organ  west  of  the  mountains.  It  enjoys 
the  distinction  of  being  the  first  one  of  its  kind  ever 
built  this  side  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  certainly  was 
the  first  one  that  had  a  chime  of  bells. 

**  In  the  sixties  and  seventies  the  cathedral  was  the 
Mecca  for  all  lovers  of  fine  organ  music,  and  at  times 
the  large  auditorium  could  scarcely  hold  the  thou- 
sands that  desired  admittance.  In  those  days  Pitts- 
burg presented  few  opportunities  for  hearing  first-class 
music  of  any  kind.  Engrossed  in  adding  to  their 
stock  of  worldly  goods,  Pittsburgers  thought  little  of 
such  unremunerative  and  ennobling  things  as  music, 
art,  or  literature.  Repeated  efforts  to  estabhsh  musi- 
cal organisations  —  orchestras,  choral  societies,  etc. 
—  at  this  time  either  failed  completely  or  met  with 
very  indifferent  success.  When  the  St.  Paul's  organ 
was  placed  in  position,  and  a  talented  and  accomplished 
organist  secured,  Pittsburg  lovers  of  what  many  con- 
sider the  grandest  form  of  earthly  music,  hailed  the 
day  with  delight.  Among  the  able  organists  and 
choir   leaders    here   were   Horace   Wadham   Nichol, 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  279 

considered  the  greatest  that  ever  occupied  the  posi- 
tion ;  John  Schenuit,  Wax  Herman,  Henry  Kleber, 
McCaffrey,  Knake,  Miss  AUce  Carter,  and  the  present 
organist,  Joseph  Otten. 

"The  organ  in  the  cathedral  stands  in  the  loft 
about  twenty  feet  above  the  ground  floor,  and  to  the 
right  of  the  altars.  For  several  years  the  instrument 
was  the  only  one  of  real  pretensions  in  the  two  cities, 
but  about  1872,  Trinity  P.  E.  Church,  on  Sixth  Ave- 
nue, installed  a  fine  organ  in  its  new  edifice  (the 
present  one),  just  then  completed. 

"  Since  then  some  splendid  organs  have  been  built 
in  churches  here,  chief  among  which  are  the  East 
Liberty  Presbyterian  and  Christ  Church,  East  End. 
The  organ  at  Carnegie  Music  Hall,  Schenley  Park, 
of  course,  ranks  among  the  finest.  During  former 
years  the  old  organ  was  used  considerably  at  concerts 
in  the  cathedral.  It  is  related  of  Nichol  and  some 
others  that  they  could  render  a  storm  scene  on  it  that 
was  so  vivid  that  people  involuntarily  reached  for  their 
umbrellas.  On  one  occasion  an  old  woman  rushed 
out  of  the  church  in  great  excitement,  saying  she 
had  left  the  front  door  open,  and  she  was  afraid  her 
best  carpet  would  get  wet. 

"  Trinity  Church,  Sixth  Avenue,  the  *  mother ' 
church  of  the  Pittsburg  diocese,  has  always  been 
famous  for  its  fine  organs.  •  The  historic  old  house 
of  worship  had  probably  the   first  pipe  organ  ever 


280  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

built  in  this  city.  In  the  '  Old  Round  Church,'  on 
the  three-cornered  plot  at  Liberty,  Wood  Street  and 
Seventh  Avenue,  the  first  erected  by  Trinity's  con- 
gregation, an  organ  was  installed  in  1804.  It  was 
a  small,  insignificant  affair,  as  compared  with  the 
leviathan,  complicated  organs  of  the  present  day,  but 
at  that  time,  when  there  were  only  about  five  thou- 
sand people  in  Pittsburg  and  organs  were  a  great 
rarity  in  the  '  Western  country,'  it  was  deemed  a 
marvellous  thing.  People  walked  miles  to  see  and 
hear  it,  and  when  Reverend  John  Henry  Hopkins, 
the  organist,  drew  from  it  melodious  chords,  the 
plain  people  of  the  city  listened.  Like  the  '  Old 
Round  Church,'  so  called  because  it  was  built  to 
conform  to  the  church  lot,  the  old  organ  has  long 
ago  disappeared,  and  as  far  as  is  known  is  now  no 
more.  In  1826,  Trinity  built  a  new  church  on  the 
present  site,  which  was  granted  to  the  church  corpo- 
ration by  the  Penns  in  1787. 

"In  1835,  a  new  and  larger  organ  was  bought.  It 
was  transported  over  the  mountains  on  the  famous 
Portage  road  that  operated  by  a  series  of  inclined 
planes,  on  which  cars  were  hoisted  by  steam  power. 
The  cars  formed  the  top  part  of  the  canal-boats  on 
the  canal  from  Hollidaysburg  to  Pittsburg,  and  were 
run  off  the  boats  into  the  incline  flat  cars  or  trucks. 
The  freight  charges  in  those  days  were  enormous,  as 
compared  with  the  small  ones  now.     To  bring  such  a 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  28 1 

bulky  thing  as  an  organ  from  Philadelphia  here  was 
an  immense  undertaking. 

"  Seventeen  years  later  this  instrument  was  replaced 
by  a  still  more  elaborate  one.  When  the  present  fine 
edifice  was  built,  in  1 870,  another  organ  was  installed. 
When  Mrs.  Harry  Darlington  presented  the  church 
with  the  present  splendid  instrument,  in  1893,  the 
old  one  was  taken  out,  and  removed  to  Bellevue, 
where  it  is  now  used  by  one  of  the  churches 
there. 

"Among  the  accomplished  masters  of  the  organ 
who  served  old  Trinity,  besides  John  Mellor,  were 
Thomas  Bissell,  C.  C.  Mellor,  Charles  Houghwart, 
Simeon  Bissell,  Ethelbert  Nevin,  Doctor  Beale,  and 
the  present  incumbent,  Walter  Hall. 

"  Christ  Church,  on  Penn  Avenue  (the  old  building), 
had  a  famous  organ  as  early  as  1855,  about  the  time 
the  edifice  was  built.  It  was  considered  one  of  the 
finest  organs  west  of  the  metropolis.  It  was  a  re- 
markable one,  too,  inasmuch  as  the  console  (keyboard) 
was  placed  a  long  distance  from  the  organ,  a  marvel 
in  organ-building.  The  organist  sat  thirty  or  forty 
feet  away  from  the  organ  when  he  played.  In  this 
respect  it  was  probably  the  only  organ  of  its  kind  in 
the  United  States.  As  its  action  was  constructed 
under  the  old-fashioned  'tracker'  system,  the  long- 
distance touch  was  very  irregular.  The  cumbersome 
affair  was  taken  out  of  the  church  in   1882,  and  a 


2  82  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

modern  organ  installed,  the  former  being  now  in  the 
Emory  M.  E.  Church,  East  End. 

"Among  the  organists  in  Christ  Church  were  C.  C. 
Mellor,  Simeon  Bissell,  James  Giles,  Henry  Rohback, 
and  Victor  De  Haus.  The  present  superb  church 
edifice,  on  Center  Avenue,  has  one  of  the  finest  and 
most  costly  organs  in  Pittsburg. 

"  The  First  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Third  have 
had  fine  organs  for  many  years.  The  same  may  also 
be  said  of  the  Calvary  M.  E.  Church,  Allegheny.  Space 
forbids,  however,  to  even  enumerate  the  fine  pipe  organs 
in  the  two  cities.  Some  of  the  earliest  organs  in  the 
city  were  marvellous  and  curious  contrivances," 

Of  American  organists  probably  none  is  more 
widely  known  than  Clarence  Eddy.  Born  at  Green- 
field, Massachusetts,  in  185 1,  his  musical  talent, 
which  was  apparent  in  his  early  youth,  was  cultivated 
by  the  best  teachers  of  the  neighbourhood  until  he 
was  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  was  then  sent  to 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  to  study  under  Dudley  Buck, 
and  after  a  year  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the 
Bethany  Congregational  Church  at  Montpelier,  Ver- 
mont. In  1 87 1,  Mr.  Eddy  went  to  Germany,  where 
he  studied  under  August  Haupt, 

Before  returning  to  America  Mr.  Eddy  made  a 
tour  through  the  principal  cities  of  Germany,  Austria, 
Switzerland,  and  Holland,  giving  recitals  and  building 
up  an  enviable  reputation. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  283 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  America  he  was  appointed 
organist  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Chi- 
cago, and  in  1875-76  gave  his  first  series  of  twenty- 
five  recitals.  In  1878,  he  became  organist  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Eddy 
has  been  very  active,  travelhng  all  over  the  United 
States  and  Europe,  and  giving  recitals  innumerable. 

He  has  undoubtedly  dedicated  more  organs  in  this 
country  than  any  other  organist  ;  among  them  may 
be  mentioned  the  great  Auditorium  organ  in  Chicago 
and  the  noted  organ  in  Trinity  Church,  Denver.  In 
1889,  he  was  invited  to  give  recitals  at  the  Trocadero, 
in  Paris,  and  he  also  played  at  the  World's  Fair  in 
Vienna. 

Mr.  Eddy  has  composed  and  published  some 
fugues,  canons,  preludes,  etc.,  for  the  organ,  and  has 
also  published  two  collections  of  organ  music,  viz., 
"The  Church  and  Concert  Organist,"  and  "The 
Organ  in  Church." 

Henry  M.  Dunham  is  one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  Boston  organists,  born  in  Brockton  (1853),  about 
twenty  miles  from  Boston,  educated  in  Boston,  and 
associated  with  Boston  during  the  whole  of  his  hfe. 
He  is  a  member  of  a  musical  family,  of  which  his 
brother  William  is  one  of  the  best  known  tenor 
singers  of  Boston,  and  his  nephew  George  one  of  the 
most  promising  of  the  rising  generation  of  organists. 

Mr.  Dunham  studied  music  at  the  New  England 


284  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

Conservatory  of  Music,  making  organ  and  composi- 
tion his  specialties,  and  graduated  from  that  insti- 
tution and  afterward  from  Boston  University.  In 
1878  he  became  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  New 
England  Conservatory,  teaching  organ-playing,  and 
has  remained  in  that  position  ever  since.  During 
his  career  he  has  been  organist  at  the  Ruggles  Street 
Baptist  Church,  where  he  remained  for  some  ten  or 
eleven  years,  and  since  that  time  at  the  Shawmut 
Congregational  Church. 

In  the  days  of  the  Boston  Music  Hall  organ,  when 
recitals  were  given  frequently,  Mr.  Dunham  officiated 
during  several  years  and  built  up  a  fine  reputation. 
Since  that  time  he  has  given  many  recitals  at  the 
conservatory,  at  the  Shawmut  Church,  and  away 
from  Boston,  his  programmes  alwa}'s  being  remark- 
able for  refined  tone  and  dignity.  His  compositions 
for  the  organ  are  numerous  and  of  high  quality,  and 
he  has  made  many  excellent  arrangements  of  well- 
known  works. 

Charles  Henry  Morse,  a  native  of  Bradford,  Massa- 
chusetts (1853),  was  educated  at  Bradford  and  Boston, 
being  graduated  from  the  New  England  Conserva- 
tory of  Music  in  1873.  He  continued  his  studies  in 
Boston  University  College  of  Music  and  received  his 
degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  in  1877,  being  employed  in  the 
meantime  as  a  teacher  of  pianoforte  in  the  New 
England  Conservatory. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  285 

He  was  also  professor  of  music  at  Wellesley 
College  from  1875  to  1884,  when  he  went  to  the 
West  and  founded  the  Northwestern  Conservatory 
of  Music  in  Minneapolis,  remaining  there  until 
1891. 

In  Boston  Mr.  Morse  was  organist  at  Tremont 
Temple  and  the  Central  Congregational  Church  ;  in 
St.  Paul  of  the  First  Baptist,  and  in  Minneapolis  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church.  Leaving  the  West, 
he  became  organist  and  choirmaster  of  Plymouth 
Church,  Brooklyn,  in  1891,  remaining  there  for  eight 
years.  In  190 1  he  was  appointed  director  of  music 
at  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  New  Hampshire. 

Hamilton  Crawford  MacDougall,  born  1858,  was 
musically  educated  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
under  Robert  Bonner,  in  Boston  under  S.  B.  Whit- 
ney, J.  C,  D.  Parker,  and  B.  J.  Lang,  and  took 
lessons   also  under  Wm.   H.   Sherwood  of   Chicago. 

In  1883  he  studied  in  London,  becoming  an  Asso- 
ciate of  the  Royal  College  of  Organists,  and  again 
in  1885-86  he  was  in  London  under  Doctor  E.  H, 
Turpin  and  William  Shakespeare.  From  1882  to 
1895  he  was  organist  of  the  Central  Baptist  Church  of 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  during  which  time  he  gave 
many  recitals  in  that  church,  and  in  other  places. 

In  1895  he  became  organist  of  the  Harvard  Church, 
Brookline,  Massachusetts,  where  also  he  gave  a  num- 
ber of  excellent  recitals,  resigning  in  1900  to  accept 


286  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

the  position  of  professor  of  music  and  director  of  the 
department  of  music  at  Wellesley  College. 

William  Crane  Carl,  a  native  of  Bloomfield,  New 
Jersey,  is  perhaps  the  most  popular  and  widely 
known  concert  organist  in  the  United  States,  with 
the  exception  of  Clarence  Eddy.  He  was  a  pupil  of 
S.  P.  Warren,  and  of  Madame  Schiller,  in  New  York, 
but  in  1890  went  abroad  and  studied  under  Alexandre 
Guilmant.  Previous  to  his  going  to  Paris  he  was,  for 
eight  years,  organist  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  and  on  his  return  to  America 
in  1892  he  was  appointed  to  the  Old  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  York  City.  At  the  same  time  he  began 
an  exceptionally  active  career  as  concert  organist,  and 
he  has  given  recitals  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
He  has  a  very  large  repertoire,  and  has  written  and 
arranged  considerable  music  for  the  organ.  Mr.  Carl 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Guild  of 
Organists,  of  which  body  he  is  one  of  the  council. 

One  of  the  most  noted  concert  organists  of  New 
York  is  Gerrit  Smith,  a  native  of  Hagerstown,  Mary- 
land (1859),  ^^^""o  was  educated  at  Hobart  College, 
Geneva,  New  York,  where  he  held  his  first  position  as 
organist.  He  afterward  studied  music  at  Stuttgart 
Conservatory,  and  then  was  a  pupil  of  S.  P.  Warren 
of  New  York,  and  later  with  Eugene  Thayer.  He 
also  spent  a  year  in  Berlin  under  Haupt  and  Rohde. 
Mr.  Smith  began  his  regular  professional  career  as 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  28/ 

organist  and  choirmaster  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Buffalo. 
On  his  return  from  Berlin  he  went  to  St.  Peter's, 
Albany,  whence  he  was  called  to  New  York,  in 
1 88  5,  as  organist  and  choirmaster  of  the  South  Church. 
He  has  given  a  great  many  organ  recitals  in  the  chief 
cities  of  America,  and  his  programmes  are  those  of 
a  musician  of  high  standards. 

Everett  E.  Truette,  who  has  been  one  of  the  most 
active  organists  of  Boston  for  some  years,  is  a  native 
of  Rockland,  Massachusetts  (i86i),  was  educated  at 
Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Massachusetts,  graduated 
from  the  New  England  Conservatory  in  i88i,  in  or- 
gan, piano,  counterpoint,  and  conducting,  and  two 
years  later  took  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Music  in 
Boston  University.  Going  abroad  immediately  after- 
ward, he  spent  two  years  under  Haupt,  Guilmant, 
and  Best,  and  spent  much  time  in  studying  the 
greatest  European  organs. 

On  his  return  to  America  he  was  engaged  as  or- 
ganist in  three  prominent  churches,  and  in  1896  was 
appointed  organist  and  choirmaster  at  the  Eliot 
Congregational  Church,  Newton. 

Mr.  Truette  has  given  upwards  of  four  hundred 
organ  recitals,  of  which  some  sixty  were  on  the  or- 
gan in  Mechanics'  Hall,  Boston,  and  ten  in  Tremont 
Temple.  He  was  also  called  to  San  Francisco  in 
1896  to  give  two  inaugural  recitals  on  the  memorial 
organ  in  Grace  Church. 


288  THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

In  addition  to  his  duties  as  organist  and  teacher, 
Mr.  Truette  is  conductor  of  the  Newton  Choral  As- 
sociation, editor  of  the  organ  department  of  the 
Etude  and  president  of  the  Alumni  Association  of 
the  New  England  Conservatory  of  Music. 

Mr.  Harrison  M.  Wild,  one  of  the  most  successful 
concert  organists  and  teachers  of  Chicago,  is  a  native 
of  Hoboken,  New  Jersey  (1861),  and  after  receiving 
his  education  studied  music  under  Arthur  J.  Cres- 
wold.  He  then  went  to  Leipzig  and  became  a  pupil 
of  Richter,  Zwintscher,  Maas,  and  Rust.  On  return- 
ing to  America,  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Chicago, 
where  he  continued  his  musical  studies  under  the 
best  teachers  available,  at  the  same  time  officiating 
as  organist  of  the  Ascension  Church.  Resigning 
this  position  at  the  end  of  five  years,  he  was  for  one 
year  organist  of  the  Memorial  Church,  and  then  for 
thirteen  years  at  the  Unity  Church,  during  which 
he  gave  more  than  two  hundred  recitals,  and  ac- 
quired a  good  reputation  as  a  concert  organist.  For 
the  past  few  years  Mr.  Wild  has  been  organist  of  the 
Grace  Episcopal  Church,  in  Chicago.  He  is  also 
conductor  of  the  Mendelssohn  Mannerchor,  and 
the  Apollo  Club,  and  an  honorary  vice  president  of 
the  American  Guild  of  Organists. 

J.  Warren  Andrews,  organist  of  the  Church  of  the 
Divine  Paternity,  in  New  York,  has  given  organ  re- 
citals in  many  cities,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  289 

seaboard.  Born  in  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  he  began 
his  career  as  an  organist  at  a  Httle  church  in  Swamp- 
scott,  at  the  age  of  twelve.  In  due  course  he  held 
various  positions  in  Lynn  and  Boston,  until  he  be- 
came organist  of  the  historical  Trinity  Church,  in 
Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Here  he  remained  nine 
years,  going  to  the  Pilgrim  Church,  in  Cambridge. 
Thence  he  went  to  Minneapolis,  where  he  was  or- 
ganist of  the  Plymouth  Church,  and  found  a  large 
field  for  his  musical  activities.  During  his  sojourn 
in  Minneapolis,  Mr.  Andrews  gave  a  large  number 
of  recitals,  travelling  as  far  as  Portland,  Oregon. 
After  several  years  in  the  West,  he  accepted  a  call 
to  the  Church  of  the  Divine  Paternity,  in  New  York. 

Mr.  Andrews  has  given  more  than  two  hundred 
organ  recitals,  and  his  programmes  show  a  prepon- 
derance of  legitimate  organ  music. 

Wilhelm  Middelschulte,  organist  of  the  Chicago 
Orchestra  and  Auditorium,  and  of  St.  James'  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  is  a  native  of  Germany,  and  received 
his  musical  education  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Church 
Music,  at  Berlin,  where  he  was  a  pupil  of  August 
Haupt  in  organ  and  theory,  August  Loeschhorn,  piano, 
Doctor  Julius  Alsleben,  history  and  conducting,  and 
Franz  Commer,  editor  of  the  Musica  Sacra.  He  be- 
came assistant  organist  of  Haupt  at  the  Parochial 
Kirche,  and  his  associate  teacher  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, and  was,  in  1888,  appointed  organist  and  director 


290  THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

of  St.  Lucas  Church,  in  Berlin,  which  position  he 
held  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  received 
a  call  to  Chicago  to  become  musical  director  and  or- 
ganist of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Name.  Before 
leaving  Berlin,  Mr.  Middelschulte  was  invited  to  play 
the  memorial  service  to  the  Emperor  Friedrich  III,, 
at  the  church  at  Bornstedt,  near  Potsdam. 

At  the  Columbian  Exposition,  Mr.  Middelschulte 
gave  three  organ  recitals,  and  the  following  season 
was  invited  to  play  with  the  Theodore  Thomas  Or- 
chestra. With  that  organisation  he  has  played  the 
following  works :  Guilmant's  Concerto  in  D  minor, 
Saint-Saens's  Symphonic  in  C  minor,  Rheinberger's 
Concerto  in  F  major,  Handel's  Concerto  in  G,  Liszt- 
Kann  fantasie,  and  fugue,  "  Ad  nos."  To  the  last 
three  compositions  he  has  written  original  cadenzas. 

In  1900  Mr.  Middelschulte  was  appointed  organist 
of  the  Cincinnati  May  Festival,  on  which  occasion  he 
played  the  Bach  Toccata  in  F  major,  and  in  1902  at 
the  festival  he  played  Bach's  Prelude  and  Fugue  in 
B  minor. 

Of  Mr.  Middelschulte's  compositions  the  most  im- 
portant is  a  passacaglia,  published  in  Leipzig,  which 
has  been  received  with  much  favour, 

Frederick  Maxson,  a  native  of  Beverly,  New  Jer- 
sey, is  one  of  the  most  prominent  concert  and  church 
organists  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  pupil  of  David 
D,  Wood  in  Philadelphia,  passed  the  Associate  Fel- 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  29 1 

lowship  degrees  in  the  American  College  of  Musi- 
cians, and  later  studied  in  Paris  with  Guilmant,  after 
which  he  took  the  Associate  degree  in  the  Royal 
College  of  Organists  in  London. 

He  was  for  some  time  organist  and  choir  director 
at  the  Christ  M,  E.  Church,  West  Philadelphia,  after 
which  he  held  a  similar  position  at  the  Central  Con- 
gregational Church,  Philadelphia  for  eighteen  years, 
resigning  in  1902  to  go  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
the  same  city.  As  a  concert  organist  Mr.  Maxson 
has  been  engaged  to  give  recitals  in  a  great  many 
places,  chiefly  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  New 
Jersey.  He  has  composed  some  pieces  for  the  organ, 
of  which  his  Grand  Chorus  in  D  deserves  special 
mention. 

J.  Wallace  Goodrich  is  a  native  of  Newton,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  which  city  he  held  for  several  years  the 
position  of  organist  at  the  Eliot  Congregational 
Church,  studying  music  at  the  same  time  with  the 
best  teachers  of  Boston.  In  1894  he  resigned  his 
position  at  Newton  and  went  to  Munich,  where  he 
studied  under  Rheinberger,  going  later  to  Paris, 
where  he  became  a  pupil  of  Widor. 

Returning  to  America  in  1897,  he  was  appointed 
professor  of  organ  and  harmony  at  the  New' England 
Conservatory  of  Music,  and  shortly  afterward  organ- 
ist and  choirmaster  at  the  Church  of  the  Messiah 
in   Boston,  a  position  which    he  resigned  in    1902, 


292  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

when,  on  the  retirement  of  Doctor  H.  J.  Stewart,  he 
received  a  call  to  Trinity  Church. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  abroad  Mr.  Goodrich 
demonstrated  his  ability  as  a  player  of  the  best  class 
of  organ  music,  and  especially  of  Bach,  by  giving  a 
series  of  recitals  at  the  Arlington  St.  Church  in  Bos- 
ton. In  October,  1901,  he  gave  the  first  organ  recital 
in  Symphony  Hall,  shortly  after  the  opening  of  that 
auditorium,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  inaugurated 
the  organ  on  that  occasion.  He  followed  this  recital 
by  two  others,  March  21  and  28,  1901.  Mr.  Good- 
rich is  the  only  organist  who  has  played  in  the 
Boston  Symphony  concerts,  in  the  new  Symphony 
Hall.  With  that  organisation  he  played  the  Handel 
Concerto  in  D  minor  at  the  first  concert  given  in 
Symphony  Hall,  also  the  Symphony  in  C  minor  of 
Saint-Saens  on  two  occasions.  At  the  Worcester 
County  Musical  Association  he  played  Rheinberger's 
Concerto  in  F,  with  the  orchestra,  and  in  Boston, 
with  the  New  England  Conservatory  Orchestra,  Han- 
del's Concertos  in  B  flat,  No.  2  and  No.  12. 

Mr.  Goodrich  has  always,  both  in  his  recitals  and 
written  articles,  been  a  strong  champion  of  the  cause 
of  legitimate  organ  music,  especially  of  Bach  and 
C^sar  Franck,  in  opposition  to  the  so-called  "ar- 
rangement school."  He  has  contributed  valuable 
articles  to  various  musical  journals,  and  has  trans- 
lated from  the  French   "  L'Orgue  de  Bach,"  by  A, 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  293 

Pirro.  He  organised,  in  1901,  and  conducts  the 
Choral  Art  Society,  and  is  choral  conductor  of  the 
Worcester  County  Musical  Association. 

Gaston  M.  Dethier,  who  is  considered  at  the  pres- 
ent day  one  of  the  most  brilliant  organists  resident 
in  New  York  City,  is  a  native  of  Liege,  Belgium, 
(1875),  and  is  the  son  of  a  musician. 

At  the  age  of  eleven  he  won  his  first  organ  ap- 
pointment in  open  competition,  and  became  organist 
of  the  church  of  St.  Jacques,  Liege.  When  Alexan- 
dre Guilmant  was  consulted  regarding  an  organist 
for  the  Church  of  St.  Xavier,  New  York  City,  he 
recommended  Dethier,  who  came  in  response  to  the 
call  extended  to  him,  in  1894. 

Since  his  arrival  M.  Dethier  has  given  many  re- 
citals, some  of  them  being  in  Montreal,  Buffalo, 
Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  and  other  large  cities,  his 
artistic  playing  always  being  recognised. 

As  a  composer  he  has  already  contributed  several 
pieces  to  organ  literature,  one  of  them,  a  "  passaca- 
glia,"  having  won  the  prize  at  the  Music  Teachers' 
National  Convention  in  1897.  In  all  there  are 
twelve  organ  compositions,  and  they  have  met  with 
much  success. 

John  Hermann  Loud,  a  native  of  Weymouth, 
Massachusetts  (1873),  is  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished of  the  younger  generation  of  concert  organ- 
ists.    After  early  instruction  under  the  care  of  his 


294  ^/^^   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 

aunt,  Miss  Annie  F.  Loud,  and  Miss  Cora  Burns  in 
Boston,  also  with  Henry  M.  Dunham  at  the  New 
England  Conservatory,  he  went  abroad  in  1893 
and  studied  organ  and  composition  in  Berlin  with 
Grunicke  and  Urban.  The  following  year  was  spent 
in  Paris  under  Guilmant,  and  then  he  went  to 
Oxford  and  studied  theory  under  Doctor  J.  Varley 
Roberts.  In  1895  Mr.  Loud  became  an  Associate  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Music  in  London,  being  the  first 
American  to  gain  that  distinction. 

Returning  to  America,  he  shortly  became  organist 
and  choirmaster  of  the  First  Church  at  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  and  in  1900  was  called  to  a  similar 
position  at  the  Harvard  Church,  Brookline,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Here  and  at  Springfield  he  has  given  a  course  of 
more  than  seventy  organ  recitals,  besides  many  re- 
citals in  other  places.  He  is  faithful  to  high  ideals, 
and  never  uses  arrangements  or  piano  scores,  but 
keeps  to  the  original  compositions  of  the  most  classic 
authors. 

At  the  Columbian  Exposition  held  at  Chicago  in 
1893,  a  noteworthy  series  of  sixty-two  organ  recitals 
was  given,  by  the  following  players  :  Clarence  Eddy 
gave  twenty-one;  Alexandre  Guilmant,  four;  R.  Hunt- 
ington Woodman,  four  ;  Samuel  A.  Baldwin,  Wm.  C. 
Carl,  Walter  E.  Hall,  Wm.  Middelschulte,  Frank 
Taft,    George   E.    Whiting,   and   Harrison   M.    Wild 


THE    ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  295 

each  gave  three ;  Fred.  J.  Wolle,  two ;  G.  Andrews, 
Louis  A,  Coerne,  N.  J.  Corey,  C.  A,  Rowland,  B.  J, 
Lang,  Otto  Pfefferkorn,  W.  RadcHffe,  W.  S.  Ster- 
Hng,  Henry  Gordon  Thunder,  and  A.  S.  Vogt  gave 
one  each. 

These  organists  were  selected  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  and  Alexandre  Guilmant  was  brought 
over  from  Paris.  The  programmes  show  a  very  great 
diversity  of  taste,  and  a  noteworthy  feature  of  them 
was  that  only  three  organists,  Alexandre  Guilmant,  B. 
J.  Lang,  and  W.  S.  Sterling,  gave  any  improvisations. 

An  excellent  series  of  recitals  was  also  given  at 
the  Pan-American  Exposition  in  Buffalo  in  190 1, 
but  lack  of  space  prevents  a  detailed  account  of 
them. 

A  remarkable  series  of  organ  recitals  was  given  in 
Boston  during  the  two  seasons  of  1897  and  1898, 
under  the  management  of  the  Art  Section  of  the 
Twentieth  Century  Club.  The  organists  were  all 
local  with  one  exception,  and  the  recitals  were  given 
in  a  number  of  churches  in  which  the  organs  were 
suitable  for  the  purpose.  The  programmes  through- 
out were  of  a  very  high  standard,  consisting  almost 
without  one  exception  of  legitimate  organ  music. 

Those  who  played  were :  Edgar  A.  Barrell,  two 
recitals ;  P.  B.  Brown,  one ;  Geo.  A.  Burdett,  five ; 
Geo.  W.  Chadwick,  two  (assisted  in  the  second  by 
E.  G.  Booth) ;  E.  Cutter,  Jr.,  two  ;  Ernest  Douglas, 


296  THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

one ;  Henry  M.  Dunham,  two ;  Arthur  Foote,  one ; 
J.  Wallace  Goodrich,  four ;  Philip  Hale,  one ;  War- 
ren A.  Locke,  two  ;  Hamilton  C.  MacDougall,  three  ; 
Chas,  H.  Morse,  one ;  Homer  A.  Norris,  one  ;  John 
O'Shea,  one;  Horatio  W.  Parker,  two;  Chas.  P. 
Scott,  two ;  Chas.  A.  Safford,  one ;  Walter  R.  Spald- 
ing, three  ;  Wm.  Stanfield,  one  ;  Allen  W.  Swan,  two  ; 
Everett  E.  Truette,  five;  Benjamin  L.  Wlielpley, 
three ;  S.  B.  Whitney  (assisted  by  H.  E.  Wry),  two. 

Returning  once  more  to  the  European  churches, 
—  one  finds  that  the  edifices  in  which  organ-playing 
has  been  developed  are  better  suited  to  the  instru- 
ment than  most  American  churches.  They  are 
large,  if  not  immense  buildings,  with  high  arched 
roofs  or  vaulted  domes.  The  style  of  architecture, 
the  dignity  of  the  surroundings,  the  sacred  character 
of  the  buildings,  all  demand  a  classical  purity  and 
elevated  style  of  organ-playing,  which,  when  trans- 
ferred to  the  average  American  "  meeting-house," 
or  the  concert  hall,  loses  much  of  its  effect. 

The  concert  hall  leads  to  transcriptions  of  operatic 
overtures  and  other  orchestral  works,  which,  however 
much  they  may  please  the  average  public,  and  how- 
ever much  they  may  be  necessary  to  "popularise" 
the  organ,  cannot  but  be  deplored  by  those  who 
love  and  reverence  the  king  of  instruments  and  its 
traditions. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  "popularisation"  of  the 


THE    ORGAN  AND    TTS  MASTERS  297 

organ,  on  which  so  many  concert  organists  have 
dwelt,  has  done  anything  at  all  toward  inculcating 
a  love  of  organ  music  into  the  breast  of  what  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  public.  The  average  man 
who  likes  music,  but  is  not  musically  educated,  will 
doubtless  prefer  the  overture  to  "William  Tell"  to 
the  "St.  Anne  Fugue"  of  Bach,  but  he  would  rather 
hear  it  played  by  an  orchestra  or  a  military  band 
than  on  the  organ.  By  playing  such  arrangements 
on  the  organ  the  performer  degrades  his  instrument 
to  the  position  of  a  makeshift,  —  an  unsatisfactory 
substitute. 

The  greatest  art  in  organ-playing  is  the  art  of 
improvisation,  an,d  this  art,  while  it  may  be  enjoyed 
by  many,  can  only  be  fully  appreciated  by  the  few. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  little  in  the  church 
services  of  to-day  to  make  the  exercise  of  this  art 
necessary.  That  which  should  begin  at  the  first 
lesson  in  organ-playing,  has  been  too  long  regarded 
in  this  country  as  rather  a  superfluous  accomplish- 
ment, and  while  it  has  not  been  totally  disregarded, 
it  has  not  received  the  attention  due  to  its  impor- 
tance. The  cultivation  of  the  art  of  improvisation 
should  go  hand  in  hand  with  technical  development. 
The  result  of  this  would  not  perhaps  be  evident  in 
more  brilliant  playing  by  concert  organists,  but 
would  be  a  much  higher  average  of  musicianship 
amongst  organists. 


298  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

The  concert  organist,  who  is  a  great  deal  before 
the  public,  does  not  necessarily  represent  the  highest 
that  is  in  the  art  of  organ-playing.  On  the  contrary, 
because  of  the  necessity  of  pleasing  his  public  he  is 
strongly  tempted  to  descend  from  the  strict  and  high 
level  of  organ  music,  and  to  try  to  tickle  the  ears  of 
his  audience  with  "storm  fantasias,"  and  similar 
meretricious  concoctions. 

Organ  "  arrangements  "  have  been  in  use  from  the 
time  of  Bach,  or  even  earlier.  The  "  transcription  " 
of  orchestral  music  for  the  organ  was  brought  into 
popularity  by  W.  T.  Best,  who  was  most  artistic  both 
in  his  arrangements,  and  his  performance  of  them. 
But  there  was  an  excuse  for  them,  inasmuch  as 
orchestras  were  extremely  rare  in  those  days,  and  by 
means  of  the  organ  the  public  could  be  made  familiar 
with  a  great  deal  of  orchestral  music.  These  tran- 
scriptions served  to  show  the  technical  ability  of  the 
organist,  at  the  expense  of  the  dignity  of  the  organ. 
To-day  there  is  less  excuse,  if  indeed  there  is  any,  for 
the  transcription,  because  orchestras  are  more  nu- 
merous and  the  opportunities  for  hearing  orchestral 
music  are  greater  and  better  than  they  were  twenty- 
five  or  fifty  years  ago,  besides  which  the  range  of 
organ  music  is  much  wider. 

Many  of  the  best  church  organists  in  the  large 
cities  are  giving  excellent  recitals.  Of  their  standard 
one  can  only  judge  by  examining  the  programmes. 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  299 

Large  audiences  are  quite  frequent  at  these  recitals, 
as  no  admission  fee  is  charged,  and  it  is  only  the 
"concert  organist"  who  is  obliged  to  descend  to  the 
sensational  for  the  sake  of  the  admission  fee. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  a  few  years,  in  view  of 
the  tremendous  activity  in  organ-building  and  in  edu- 
cation of  organists,  the  "storm  fantasia"  and  the 
orchestral  transcription  will  be  rolled  back  to  the 
woods  and  the  plains,  and  serve  to  soothe  the  savage 
Indian,  and  to  please  the  bronco  buster  and  cow- 
puncher,  who  will  thus  be  gradually  prepared,  as  their 
more  Eastern  forefathers  have  been,  for  the  higher 
forms  of  organ  music. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ORGAN  -  BUILDING 

The  following  brief  summary  of  organ-building  in 
England  is  taken  from  an  article  written  by  Doctor 
C.  MacLean  and  published  in  the  ZeitscJirift  der 
inteniationalen  Miisik-Gesellschaft,  September,  1901. 
It  will  serve  to  show  the  general  progress  of  organ- 
building  throughout  the  world,  and  indicate  the  origin 
of  certain  principles,  some  of  which  have  taken  years 
to  bring  to  perfection. 

THE    HISTORY    OF    ENGLISH    ORGAN  -  BUILDING, — A 
bird's-eye    VIEW. 

"  Before  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
scarcely  anything  is  known.  About  that  time  all 
large  organs  were  in  two  manuals,  great  and  choir,  and 
no  pedal.  Th.  Dallam  (1602-65)  built  one  at 
York  in  1633.  Harris,  grandfather  of  Rene,  built 
one  at  Magdalen,  Oxford,  in  1637.  Then  came  the 
great  rebellion.  Rob.  Dallam  built  a  two-manual 
organ  at  New  College,  Oxford,  in  166 1,  after  the 
Restoration.     Ralph  Dallam   (d.    1673)  built  a  one- 

300 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  30I 

manual  organ  at  Windsor,  with  two  ''shifting"  or 
reducing  pedals  (down  to  principal,  and  down  to 
diapasons,  with  return-spring  on  release  of  catch), 
about  the  same  year.  J.  Loosemore  (161 3-81)  built 
a  two-manual  organ  at  Exeter  in  1666,  having  double 
diapason,  fourteen  notes  on  manual  from  tenor  C  down, 
with  short  octaves,  having  GGG  pipe  of  twenty  feet 
six  inches  speaking  length,  and  one  foot  three  inches 
diameter. 

"Bernard  Schmidt  (1630-1708)  came  from  Wettin, 
near  Halle,  to  England  in  1660,  introduced  mixtures 
and  reeds,  and  added  a  short  echo  manual ;  but  still 
no  pedal-board,  though  in  Germany  three  hundred 
years  before.  His  firm  made  very  many  organs 
throughout  the  country,  including  Westminster 
Abbey  (1662),  Temple  (1682),  St.  Paul's  (1697), 
etc. 

"Rene  Harris  (d.  1715),  Englishman  naturahsed  in 
Paris,  grandson  of  Harris  above-named,  came  to  Eng- 
land likewise  in  1660,  and  began  in  western  counties 
with  his  father ;  they  built  Worcester,  Salisbury,  and 
Gloucester  organs,  with  many  others,  and  also  some 
in  London.  They  relied  on  reeds  in  French  style  ; 
stops  were  made  common  to  two  manuals ;  Salisbury 
had  a  second  great,  making  four  manuals,  the  first 
instance  here. 

"Abraham  Jordan  invented  the  first  swell,  a 
*nag's-head'    or     'window-sash,'    in     171 2;    copied 


302  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

at  Hamburg  in  1764.  In  1726  Harris  and  Byfield 
built  an  organ  at  St.  Mary,  Redcliffe,  Bristol,  with 
a  CCC  great  manual  (many  since  in  England),  and  a 
sub-octave  coupler  great  to  great.  R.  Bridge's  organ 
at  Christ  Church,  Spitalfields,  in  1730,  had  thirty- 
three  speaking  stops  on  three  manuals,  and  yet  no 
pedal-board. 

"Johann  Snetzler,  of  Passau  (b.  1710),  introduced 
the  first  dulciana,  and  the  first  real  manual  double 
in  this  country,  at  Lynn  Regis  (1754);  at  Savoy 
German  Lutheran  Chapel  he  introduced  an  octave  of 
pedal-board,  first  time  in  England,  but  without  pipes, 
acting  only  by  permanent  coupler. 

"One  Cummings,  a  watchmaker,  invented  in  1762 
a  flat  accordion-reservoir  laid  on  top  of  the  ordinary 
diagonally  rising  bellows.  B.  Plight  (i 767-1 847) 
mutually  inverted  the  pair  of  ribs  in  Cummings's 
reservoir,  and  others  replaced  single  bellows  by  a 
cuckoo-bellows  or  by  a  pair  of  bellows.  John  Avery 
(d.  1808)  put  separate  pipes  on  Westminster  Abbey 
pedal -board  some  time  before  1793  ;  and  superseded 
Jordan's  window-sash  swell  by  a  Venetian  swell,  now 
(except  for  the  occasional  '  gridiron  '  and  '  box ')  the 
only  one  used. 

"J.  C.  Bishop  (i 781-1854)  in  1809  invented 
*  composition '  pedals,  where  there  was  no  catch  or 
return-spring;  in  1825  he  introduced  concussion  or 
floating  bellows   on  the  wind-trunks   near   pipe ;  in 


THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS  303 

1829  he  built  the  organ  at  St.  James's,  Bermondsey, 
three  manuals,  three  stops  on  pedal,  five  couplers, 
and  a  left  hand  side-manual  acting  on  pedal  organ. 

"C.  S.  Barker,  a  chemist's  assistant  of  Bath 
(1806-79),  invented  while  a  young  man  (1832)  the 
pneumatic  lever  near  the  key,  or  small  diagonally 
rising  leverage-bellows,  worked  on  the  principle  of 
the  slide-valves  of  a  steam-engine,  which  was  refused 
by  Hill,  and  accepted  by  A.  Cavaille-Coll  (181 1-99) 
for  St.  Denis  near  Paris  in  1841  ;  this  has  revolu- 
tionised the  whole  art  of  organ- building,  because  no 
limit  thereafter  to  size  of  organ  or  pressure  of  wind. 
There  have  been  several  modifications  since  of  the 
'lever'  (averaging  in  size  three  inches  by  nine 
inches),  and  it  has  been  applied  to  do  other  work 
besides  pallet  work,  while  still  retaining  the  original 
principle  of  mechanical  construction  each  side  of  the 
pneumatic  lever  or  motor.  Barker  studied  organ- 
building  under  Bishop,  went  to  Paris,  1837,  patented 
the  lever  for  France  in  1839,  ^"^  was  successively 
voicer  with  Cavaill6,  manager  of  Ducroquet  (later 
Merklin),  and  partner  with  Verschneider ;  at  the  war 
in  1870  he  retired  to  Dublin,  and  died  old  and  poor 
at  Maidstone. 

"In  1827  Jos.  Booth  had  at  Sheffield  applied 
the  same  principle  at  the  other  end  under  the  pallet, 
but  only  to  some  bass  pipes  and  with  crude  details ; 
the  leverage-bellows  ('  puff-valves ')  here  were  acted 


304  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

on  from  key  by  heavy  wind  contained  in  conveyances. 
This  since  worked  up  in  conjunction  with  Barker's 
lever ;  the  principle  being  now  to  place  the  main 
motor  close  to  the  seat  of  work  to  be  done  (pallet, 
slide,  etc),  to  have  a  minor  motor  close  to  the  operat- 
ing agency  (key,  piston,  etc.),  and  to  connect  these 
two  not  mechanically  but  by  heavy  wind  (say  ten 
inches)  pressing  or  exhausting  in  a  pliable  leaden 
tube,  one-eighth  inch  to  quarter  inch  interior  diam- 
eter. Moitessier,  of  Montpelier,  patented  such  a 
tubular-pneumatic  in  1835,  ^^^^  practically  applied  it 
at  La  Dalbade  in  Toulouse  in  1850.  Willis  here 
took  it  up  later,  and  applied  it  at  St.  Paul's  in 
1874. 

**The  dates  here  involved  regarding  Booth  (1827), 
Barker  (1832),  and  Moitessier  (1835),  and  the  details 
and  circumstances  of  each  invention,  deserve  careful 
scrutiny.  The  original  Barker  principle,  to  apply 
compressed  air  only  at  a  fixed  point  of  force,  and  not 
diffused  over  a  long  connection,  remains  the  soundest 
as  far  as  pneumatics  are  concerned ;  there  is  a  vena 
contracta  for  gases,  and  the  action  is  not  immediate. 

"  H.  J.  Gauntlett,  London,  organist  (1806-76), 
patented  in  1852  an  electro-magnetic  connection 
between  key  and  pallet ;  key  making  an  electrical 
contact  (by  copper  point  entering  mercury  cup,  later 
copper  pin  thrust  between  copper  bristles),  close  to 
its  tail-end,  wire  carrying  a  current,  electro-magnet 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  305 

just  below  pallet,  armature  on  underside  of  pallet 
itself.  Barker  in  1867  applied  the  principle  at  St. 
Augustin,  Paris,  interposing  one  of  his  pneumatic 
levers  near  pallet.  Both  Bryceson  and  Willis  devel- 
oped electric  action  systematically,  and  severally 
took  out  patents  in  1868.  Since  then,  many  devices 
for  diminishing  work  of  magnet,  and  increasing  that 
of  wind ;  chiefly  by  small  secondary  pneumatic 
motors  subordinate  to  the  primary.  In  '  Hope-Jones  ' 
action  of  to-day,  the  magnet  need  only  move  a 
small  disc  by  less  than  one-hundredth  of  an  inch. 
Electro-pneumatics  are  better  than  tubular  pneu- 
matics, always  provided  the  electricity  can  be  relied 
on. 

"  The  same  H.  J.  Gauntlett  laboured  with  the  organ- 
builder,  W.  Hill,  in  mid  nineteenth  century,  to  intro- 
duce the  CC  compass  for  manual  and  CCC  compass 
for  pedal-board  (in  lieu  of  GG  and  GGG)  ;  herein 
doing  some  good,  no  doubt,  and  also  some  mischief. 
In  spite  of  the  passionate  advocacy  of  those  days, 
the  theoretical  arguments  against  a  G  inferior  com- 
pass (the  specialty  of  these  islands,  and  nearly  uni- 
versal here  1650-1850),  are  very  feeble.  It  might 
be  said  that  in  well-disposed  harmony  the  G  manual 
ran  lower  than  necessary  for  the  hands.  But  it  could 
not  possibly  be  said  that  the  G  pedal-board,  with  its 
extreme  note  of  twenty-one  feet,  was  not  a  judicious 
compromise  as  to  depth  ;  giving  a  fine  foundation  for 


306  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

the  whole  organ-sound,  touching  almost  the  limit  of 
available  prime-tone  (except  to  a  fanatical  imagination), 
exactly  tallying  with  the  invariable  vocal  quartet 
in  accompaniments.  In  point  of  fact,  G  organs  on  a 
choir-screen  were  ideally  designed  for  effect  in  our 
cathedrals,  and  to  accompany  their  service ;  and  for 
that  they  have  never  been  equalled.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  S.  S.  Wesley  (the  most  gifted  of  modern  Eng- 
lish church  composers)  was  Gauntlett's  chief  oppo- 
nent, and  that  W.  T.  Best  (the  most  expert  of  modern 
English  concert  organists)  would  never  allow  the  G 
manuals  of  the  great  concert  organ  in  St.  George's 
Hall,  Liverpool,  to  be  altered  during  his  lifetime. 
The  real  argument  for  the  change  was  the  practical 
one  that  all  the  best  music  in  the  world  for  organ 
solo  (the  German  and  the  Dutch)  had  been  written 
for  a  CCC  pedal-board.  Feet  are  blind,  and  there 
must  be  one  pedal-range  for  one  country.  Hence  it 
had  to  be  either  one  thing  or  the  other,  and  the 
German  system,  having  the  greater  weight,  carried 
the  day  ;  then  manuals  were  contracted  to  CC  for 
economy  and  conformity  with  the  pedal.  So  far  the 
practical  arguments,  as  concerns  the  great  majority 
of  new  constructions,  can  scarcely  be  gainsaid.  But 
it  is  doubtful  whether  all  existing  GG  manuals  need 
have  been  altered  ;  and  most  certainly  there  was  a 
strong  prima  facie  case  for  leaving  undisturbed  those 
monuments  of  English   building,  the  CCC  manuals 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  307 

(such  as  in  Italy)  of  Bangor,  Bath,  Birmingham, 
Bristol",  Cambridge  (Trinity  College),  Gloucester, 
Leeds  (St.  Peter's  Chapel),  Newgate  Street  (Christ 
Church),  Westminster  Abbey,  etc.  Indeed,  even  as 
to  new  constructions,  where  cost  is  no  object,  there 
can  be  no  objection  of  any  sort  to  CCC  manuals 
throughout  an  organ  (as  at  Como),  and  such  have 
great  advantages  in  providing  varied  basses,  etc. ; 
while  again  this  is  specially  true  when  there  is  only 
one  manual.  Finally,  a  compromise  not  to  be  de- 
spised is  to  cut  thirty-two  feet  pedal  stops  at  the  G 
pedal,  omitting  the  lowest  seven  notes,  and  to  have 
these  stops  more  frequently. 

"  Wilhs,  in  his  185 1  Hyde  Park  Exhibition  organ, 
was  the  first  to  use  heavy  wind  combination  pistons 
in  lieu  of  foot  pressed  composition-pedals.  Repre- 
sentative of  the  many  English  latter-day  devices  for 
controlling  stops,  especially  pedal  stops,  are  those  of 
Casson  (a  Denbigh  banker  now  engaged  in  organ 
manufacture).  .  .  .  There  have  also  been  numerous 
soundboard  and  action  devices  under  the  heads  of 
borrowed  pipes,  highest  note  and  lowest  note  en- 
forcements, double  touch,  etc.  The  bellying  purse 
device  (cf.  Kegellade)  occasionally  used  here.  R. 
Hope-Jones,  electric  engineer,  has  invented  large 
new  class  of  pipes,  diaphones  ;  really  tremulant 
applied  to  a  pipe-body,  with  tone  between  flute  and 
reed. 


308  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

"  Now  the  whole  of  the  above  survey  shows  the 
following  list  of  admitted  important  improvements, 
of  which  the  initiative  is  due  to  Englishmen  :  Hori- 
zontal reservoir,  Cummings,  1762  ;  inverted  ribs  to 
ditto,  Flight,  c.  1800;  composition-pedals,  Bishop, 
1809;  concussion  bellows,  Bishop,  1825;  tubu- 
lar pneumatic  connection,  Booth,  1827;  pneumatic 
lever.  Barker,  1832  ;  electric  connection,  Gaunt- 
lett,  1850;  combination  pistons,  Willis,  185 1.  The 
inventions  of  Cummings  and  Flight  for  the  first 
time  put  wind-supply  on  a  proper  footing  ;  that  of 
Barker,  as  before  said,  revolutionised  organ-building. 
The  French  and  Italians  followed  quickly  and  practi- 
cally regarding  pneumatic  and  electric  connections. 
It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  these  are  not  heresies, 
and  whether  there  is  as  yet  anything  better  than 
compact  pneumatic  levers  at  points  of  necessary  force, 
with  carpenter's  or  other  rigid  push-and-pull  between." 

The  electro-pneumatic  principle  is  said  to  have 
originated  in  Germany,  but  there  is  an  account  of  an 
organ  in  Drury  Lane  Theatre  to  which  this  principle 
was  applied  in  1867,  and  this  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  organ  to  contain  the  electric  draw-stop 
action  and  cable  of  insulated  wires  through  which 
the  instrument  was  played.  The  keyboard  was 
placed  fifty-five  feet  from  the  organ. 

The  development  of  this  action  into  a  practical 
commercial   possibility  is  due  to   innumerable  small 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  309 

inventions    affecting    almost     every    detail    of    the 
action. 

In  America  the  first  electric-action  organ  is  said 
to  have  been  one  built  by  Roosevelt  for  the  Centen- 
nial Exhibition  in  Philadelphia  in  1876.  This  organ 
was  afterward  removed  to  the  Mechanics'  Building  in 
Boston,  but  little  01  nothing  was  done  with  the  electric 
action  in  this  country  from  that  time  until  about  1890, 
when  Hope-Jones,  the  English  organ-builder,  erected 
an  instrument  at  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  after  which 
American  builders  took  up  the  idea  in  earnest. 

In  America  the  organ-builders,  who  have  learned 
their  art,  and  built  up  their  trade  in  little  more  than 
a  century,  are  cosmopolitan,  availing  themselves  of 
the  best  workmen  and  the  best  ideas  from  all  parts 
of  Europe,  and  adding  to  the  foundation  thus  secured 
such  ingenuity  and  invention  as  the  American 
mechanic  is  noted  for.  During  the  past  fifty  years 
America  has  been  importing  men  rather  than  instru- 
ments, and  at  the  present  day  American  organs  will 
stand  comparison  with  those  now  being  built  in 
Europe,  and  are  at  the  same  time  better  adapted 
to  the  climate  of  the  country  and  to  local  conditions. 

Much  of  the  improvement  in  organ-building  in 
this  country  is  undoubtedly  due  to  Roosevelt,  the 
New  York  builder,  who  spent  thousands  of  dollars 
on  experiments  in  electricity,  and  in  the  principle  of 
the  individual  valve,  and   at  last  went  out  of  busi- 


3IO 


THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


ness.  His  ideas  have  since  been  worked  upon  by 
other  builders,  and  are  being  brought  to  perfection. 

The  "  universal  air-chest,"  by  which  the  whole 
inside  of  the  organ  practically  becomes  a  reservoir 
of  wind,  is  a  recent  American  invention,  made  by 
John  Turnell  Austin  in  1 894.  In  this  system,  which 
represents  the  most  radical  change  in  organ-building, 
the  whole  mechanism  of  the  organ,  except  the  key- 
action,  is  included  in  the  wind-chest. 

As  an  example  of  modern  American  organ-building 
perhaps  none  can  be  found  better  than  the  great 
instrument  erected  in  the  Woolsey  Hall  auditorium  at 
Yale  University  in  1902  by  the  Hutchings-Votey  Co. 

SPECIFICATIONS. 


Compass  of  Manuals  from  C  to  C,  61  notes 

. 

Compass  of  Pedals  from  C  to  G,  32  notes. 

Great   Organ. 

I. 

16  ft.  Diapason    . 

metal  61 

pipes 

2. 

16  ft.  Quintaton    . 

wood  61 

(1 

3- 

8  ft.  Diapason    . 

metal  61 

(( 

4. 

8  ft.  Diapason    . 

"     61 

(( 

5- 

8  ft.  Diapason    . 

"     61 

« 

6. 

8  ft.  Doppel  Flote 

wood  61 

(1 

7- 

8  ft.  Principal  Flute 

"     61 

(( 

8. 

8  ft.  Gross  Gamba 

metal  61 

(1 

9- 

8  ft.  Viol  d'Amour 

"     61 

(t 

10. 

8  ft.  Gemshorn   . 

"     61 

<( 

II. 

4  ft.  Octave 

metal  61 

« 

12. 

4  ft.  Wald  Flute 

wood  61 

(1 

13 

4  ft.  Gambette   . 

metal  61 

(( 

THE   ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


311 


14. 

2    ft.  Twelfth     . 

61  pipes 

IS- 

2  ft.  Fifteenth     . 

61     " 

16. 

V.  Rks.  Mixture  . 

305     " 

17- 

16  ft.  Trumpet 

61     » 

18. 

8  ft.  Trumpet 

61     " 

19- 

4  ft.  Clarion 

61     " 

Swell   Organ. 

20, 

16  ft.  Contra  Gamba    . 

metal  61  pipes 

21. 

16  ft.  Bourdon 

wood  61      " 

22. 

8  ft.  Stentorphone 

metal  61     " 

23- 

8  ft.  Diapason    . 

(( 

61     " 

24. 

8  ft.  Gamba 

<i 

61     " 

25- 

8  ft.  Bourdon      . 

wood  61     " 

26. 

8  ft.  Flauto  Traverse 

(1 

61     " 

27. 

8  ft.  Salicional    . 

metal  61     " 

28. 

8  ft.  Quintadena 

a 

61     «' 

29. 

8  ft.  Unda  Maris 

a 

61     " 

30- 

8  ft.  ^oline 

(1 

61     " 

31- 

8  ft.  Vox  Celestis 

<t 

61     " 

32. 

4  ft.  Harmonic  Flute 

(( 

61     " 

33- 

4  ft.  Principal      . 

(( 

61     « 

34- 

4  ft.  Violina 

(( 

61     « 

35- 

2  ft.  Flautino 

u 

61     " 

36. 

V.  Rks.  Dulce  Cornet 

(( 

305     » 

37. 

16  ft.  Posaune 

(( 

61     " 

38. 

8  ft.  Cornopean  . 

(( 

61     «' 

39- 

8  ft.  Oboe  . 

(( 

61     " 

40. 

8  ft.  Vox  Humana 
Tremolo. 

Choir   Orgai 

ST. 

6i     '• 

(Enclosed  in  a  swe' 

1-box.) 

41. 

16  ft.  Contra  Dulciana 

metal  61  pipes 

42. 

8  ft.  Diapason    . 

(( 

61     " 

312 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


43 

8  ft.  Melodia 

wood  61 

pipes 

44 

8  ft.  Viol  d'Orchestre 

metal  61 

45 

8  ft.  Lieblich  Gedacht 

wood  61 

46 

8  ft.  Dulciana     . 

metal  61 

47 

8  ft.  Viol  Celeste  (2  Ranks) 

"    122 

48 

8  ft.  Violoncello 

wood  61 

49 

4  ft.  Viola  .... 

metal  61 

50 

4  ft.  Flauto  Traverse  . 

wood  61 

51 

2  ft.  Piccolo  Harmonique  . 

metal  61 

52 

8  ft.  Clarinet 

"     61 

S3 

16  ft.  Contra  Fagotto   . 
Tremolo. 

"     61 

Solo    Organ. 
(In  a  swell-box.) 


54- 

8  ft.  Tibia  Plena 

metal  61 

pipes 

55- 

8  ft.  Tuba  Sonora 

"     61 

56. 

8  ft.  Gross  Flute 

"     61 

57- 

4  ft.  Hohlpfeife  .         wood  and 

metal  61 

58. 

8  ft.  Dolce 

"      61 

59- 

8  ft.  Orchestral  Oboe 

"     61 

Pedal   Organ  (Augmented). 

60. 

64  ft.  Gravissima  (Resultant) 

wood  32 

notes 

61. 

32  ft.  Diapason     . 

"     32 

62. 

32  ft.  Contra  Bourdon  . 

"     32 

63- 

32  ft.  Contra  Bass  (Resultant) 

"     32 

64. 

16  ft.  Diapason     . 

"     32 

65. 

16  ft.  Diapason    . 

metal  32 

66. 

16  ft.  Violone 

wood  32 

67. 

16  ft.  Bourdon 

"     32 

68. 

16  ft.  Dulciana 

metal  32 

69. 

16  ft.  Lieblich  Gedacht 

wood  32 

70. 

16  ft.  Bombarde  . 

metal  32 

71- 

16  ft.  Contra  Fagotto  . 

"     32 

THE   ORGAN  AND  ITS  MASTERS 


313 


72 

73 

74 

75 
76 

77 
78 


79- 

80. 

81. 
82. 

83- 
84. 
85. 
86. 
87. 

88. 
89. 
90. 
91. 
92. 

93- 
94. 

95- 
96. 

97- 
98. 


8  ft.  Bass  flute   . 
8  ft.  Octave 
8  ft.  Violoncello 
8  ft.  Bourdon 
8  ft.  Tromba 
4  ft.  Super  Octave 
4  ft.  Flute  . 


wood  32  notes 
metal  32     '« 
wood  and  metal  32  pipes 
wood  32     " 
metal  32     " 

"     32     " 
wood  32     *' 


Couplers. 


Great  to  Pedal, 
Swell  to  Pedal, 
Choir  to  Pedal, 
Solo  to  Pedal, 

Swell  to  Great, 
Choir  to  Great, 
Solo  to  Great, 
Swell  to  Choir, 
Swell  to  Solo, 

Great  to  Great,  16 
Swell  to  Swell,  16 
Solo  to  Solo,  16 
Swell  to  Great,  16 
Choir  to  Great,  16 
Solo  to  Great,  16 
Great  to  Great,  4 
Swell  to  Swell,  4 
Solo  to  Solo,  4 
Swell  to  Great,  4 
Solo  to  Great,      4 


Pedal. 


Unison. 


Sub  8vo. 


Super  8vo. 


Adjustable   Combinations. 

(Push  buttons  between  manuals.) 

i>  2,  3,  4,  5,  o.      Operating  on  Great  and  Pedal. 
I,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  o,         «  "   Swell 


314 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 


I.  2,  3,  4,  o, 
I.  2,  3,  4,  o, 
I,  2,  3,  4, 

General  Release. 
Pedal  Release. 


Operating  on  Choir  and  Pedal. 
"  "   Solo  " 

"  "  such    stops    as    may    be 

desired. 


Pedal. 


I,  2,  3 

4,  5>  6 

7,8 

9,  lo 

II 

12 

14 

15 
1 6 

17 


Combinations  on  Great. 
Combinations  on  Swell. 
Combinations  on  Choir. 
Combinations  on  Solo. 
Great  to  Pedal  Reversible. 
Swell  to  Pedal  Reversible. 
Sforzando  (Full  Organ). 
Balanced  Swell. 
Balanced  Choir. 
Balanced  Solo. 
Balanced  Crescendo. 
Electro-pneumatic  Action. 


When  M.  Guilmant,  the  noted  French  organist, 
had  completed  his  tour  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  in  1898,  his  opinions  were  expressed  in  an 
article  published  in  the  Music  Magazine,  and  from 
that  article  we  may  quote  as  follows : 

"  In  America  I  have  found  many  good  organs. 
They  are  especially  effective  in  the  softer  stops, 
such  as  the  dulciana,  flutes,  and  gamba.  But  the 
full  organ  lacks  resonance  and  does  not  thrill.  I 
do  not  think  the  mixtures  and  reeds  of  the  great 
organ  should  be  included  in  the  swell-box,  as  this 
weakens  the  tone  and  destroys  proper  balance.     The 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  315 

pedals  in  American  organs  are  not  so  clear  and  dis- 
tinct as  they  should  be.  They  lack  the  eight-foot 
and  four-foot  tone.  The  effect  is  the  same  as  if 
there  were  too  many  double  basses  in  an  orchestra 
and  not  enough  violoncellos.  The  sixteen-foot  open 
diapason  in  the  great  organ  is  so  powerful  that  every 
organ  should  have  also  the  milder  sixteen-foot  bour- 
don, which  gives  mellow  quality  to  the  foundation- 
stops.  But  as  a  rule  the  softer  sixteen-foot  stops 
are  wholly  lacking  in  American  organs. 

"  Organ-builders  should  devote  less  time  to  me- 
chanical improvements,  and  more  time  to  improving 
the  voicing  of  their  instruments.  Mechanical  appli- 
ances are  multiplying  so  fast  that  soon  an  organist 
will  be  unable  to  occupy  himself  with  anything  ex- 
cept the  mechanism  of  his  instrument.  This  is  much 
to  be  deplored.  Organ-playing  should  be  essentially 
musical,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  pure  style  of 
the  organ.  It  should  not  involve  constant  changes 
of  registration.  There  is  too  great  a  tendency  to  use 
vibrating  stops  —  voix  celeste,  tremolo,  and  vox  hu- 
mana." 

The  opinion  of  M.  Guilmant  is  valuable,  being  that 
of  one  who  is  not  only  at  the  very  head  of  his  profes- 
sion, but  who  has  also  visited  many  countries  and 
become  acquainted  with  the  conditions  existing  in 
those  countries. 

There  is  great  advance  in  organ-building  in  Amer- 


3l6  THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS 

ica  at  the  present  day,  and  much  of  this  is  doubtless 
due  to  the  fact  that  our  organ-builders  have  practi- 
cally a  clear  field.  The  European  countries  are 
much  hampered  by  historical  associations.  Many  of 
the  churches  are  extremely  ancient,  and  very  beauti- 
ful. Their  organs,  too,  are  almost  mediaeval,  and 
though  repaired  from  time  to  time,  do  not  possess 
the  mechanical  advantages  of  modern  instruments. 

Here  in  America  the  whole  country  is  growing. 
New  churches,  new  halls,  and  new  organs  are  being 
built  constantly,  and  many  magnificent  instruments 
are  being  erected  annually,  giving  to  organ-builders 
every  opportunity  to  make  use  of  the  most  modern 
devices  and  improvements.  These,  of  course,  do  not 
affect  the  tone  and  quality  of  the  instrument,  but 
they  give  to  the  organist  facilities  which  enable  him 
to  accomplish  feats  of  performance,  and  effects  which 
are  impossible  upon  the  old  instruments.  Lightness 
of  touch,  quick  response,  and  rapid  combinations  are 
the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  modern  organist, 
and  these  improvements  are  due  chiefly  to  the  appli- 
cation of  electricity,  a  principle  which  has  taken 
many  years  for  its  development,  and  which  cannot 
yet  be  said  to  have  reached  perfection. 

There  appears  to  be  no  limit  to  invention,  and 
what  the  organ  will  become  in  the  future  no  one  can 
foresee. 

It  would  be  interesting,  indeed,  if  the  good  people 


THE    ORGAN  AND   ITS  MASTERS  31/ 

of  the  Brattle  Square  Church,  who  rejected  the  little 
innocent  "box  of  whistles"  which  was  left  to  them, 
could  come  back  to  us  and  sit  in  judgment  upon  one 
of  the  modern  electric-action  organs.  Doubtless  all 
the  light  which  we  have  received  during  the  past 
two  centuries  would  be  ascribed  to  the  *'  powers  of 
darkness." 


THE    END. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE    OF 
FAMOUS    ORGANISTS 


"  C  "  indicates  that  the  date  given  is  only  approximate. 


Place  and  Date  of      1 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Sandino,  Francesco . 

Florence 

<ri325 

Florence 

1390 

Pesaro,  Francesco  de 

Venice 

1333 

Venice 

? 

Circo,  Francesco  de 

Florence 

1390 

Florence 

? 

Paumann,  Conrade  . 

Germany 

1410 

Munich 

1473 

Sguarcia,  Lupo  Antonio  . 

Rome 

1430 

? 

? 

Isaak,  Heinrich 

? 

£•1450 

? 

^1517 

Hofheimer,  Paulus  von    . 

Radstad 

1459 

Salzburg 

1537 

Willaert,  Adrian 

Brugge 

1480 

Venice 

1562 

Redford,  John . 

London 

1500 

? 

Sheppard,  John 

Oxford 

1500 

1560 

Taverner,  John 

Boston,  Eng 

1500 

1570 

Corteccio,  Francesco 

Florence 

1500 

1570 

Van  den  Bosch,  Jean 

Antwerp 

1500 

? 

1550 

Buus,  Jacket    . 

Bruges 

1510 

? 

? 

Gabrieli,  Andrea 

Venice 

<ri5io 

Venice 

1586 

Salinas,  Francesco   . 

Burgos 

1512 

Salamanca 

1590 

Blitheman,  Win. 

England 

t:i^20 

England 

1591 

Tallys,  Thos.    . 

England 

£-1520 

London 

1585 

Tye,  Christopher 

Cam'ge,  Eng 

.  4:1520 

London 

1 591 

Edwards,  Richard    . 

Somersetshire  1523 

? 

1566 

Merbecke,  John 

? 

1523 

? 

1585 

Farrant,  Richard 

London 

^1526 

Windsor 

1580 

Merulo,  Claudius 

Correggio 

1533 

Parma 

1604 

Parsons,  Robert 

Exeter 

^^1535 

Newark 

1569 

Amerbach,  Elias  N. 

Milan 

^1540 

Leipzig 

1597 

Bariola,  Ottavio 

Milan 

1540 

? 

? 

Milleville,  Alessandro 

Ferrara 

1540 

? 

? 

Byrd,  William  . 

London 

1546 

London 

1623 

Antegnati,  Costanzo 

Brescia 

^1550 

Brescia 

(ri620 

Eremita,  Giulio 

Ferrara 

<^i55o 

? 

? 

Giles,  Nathaniel 

Worcester, 

Eng. 

^1550 

Windsor 

1623 

319 


320 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Name. 

Place  and  Date  of 
Birth. 

Place  and  Date  of 
Death. 

Luzzasco,  Luzzaschi 

Ferrara 

<ri550 

? 

? 

Paix,  Jacob 

Augsburg 

1550 

Lauingen 

1590 

Gabrieli,  Giovanni   . 

Venice 

1557 

Venice 

1612 

Ballioni,  Jeronimo 

.? 

? 

? 

? 

Diruta,  Girolamo 

Perugia 

^1560 

? 

? 

Erbach,  Christian     . 

Algesheim 

CI  560 

Augsburg 

1682 

Holmes,  Thomas 

? 

1560 

Salisbury 

?i663 

Philipps,  Peters 

? 

1560 

.? 

1625 

Praetorius,  Hieronymus    . 

Hamburg 

1560 

Hamburg 

1629 

SweeHnck,  Jan 

Amsterdam 

I  !;62 

Amsterdam 

1621 

Bull,  John 

Somersetshire  1563 

Antwerp 

1628 

Morley,  Thomas 

? 

1563 

Eondon 

1604 

Hasler,  Hans  Leo  von 

Nuremberg 

1564 

Frankfort-on- 
Main 

1612 

Aichinger,  Gregor     . 

Augsburg 

1565 

? 

1612 

Hasler,  Jacob  . 

Nuremberg 

1565 

Ilechingen  ? 

1601 

Milleville,  P'rancesco 

Ferrara 

CI  565 

? 

? 

Banchieri,  Don  Andriano 

Bologna 

1567 

'? 

1634 

Tomkins,  John 

England 

1569 

London 

1638 

Arnone,  Guglielmo  . 

Italy 

<ri570 

Italy 

? 

Bevin,  Ehvay    . 

England 

1570 

Bristol 

CI  640 

Cima,  Giovanni 

Milan 

CI  570 

? 

? 

Hasler,  Casper 

Nuremberg 

1570 

Nuremberg 

1618 

Tomkins,  Thomas   . 

England 

1574 

Worcester 

1656 

Bateson,  Thomas     • 

England 

^1575 

Bristol       1 599 

-1611 

Ala,  Giovanni  B. 

Italy 

<riS76 

Italy 

1612 

Weelkes,  Thomas    . 

England 

1578 

Chichester 

1640 

Staden,  Johann 

Nuremberg 

CI579 

Nuremberg 

1634 

Gibbons,  Ellis 

Cambridge 

1580 

? 

1650 

Patavino,  Annibale  . 

Padua 

C1580 

\ 

1660 

Frescobaldi,  Girolamo 

Ferrara 

1583 

Rome 

1644 

Gibbons,  Orlando     . 

Cambridge 

1583 

Canterbury 

1625 

Batten,  Adrian 

England 

CI  585 

London 

C1637 

Schiitz,  Heinrich 

Saxony 

1585 

Dresden 

1672 

Schein,  Johann  H.  . 

Saxony 

1586 

Leipzig 

1630 

Scheldt,  Samuel 

Halle-on- 

Saale 

1587 

Halle-on-Salle 

1654 

Amner,  John    . 

?  (late  in  i6th 

century) 

? 

1641 

Agostini,  Paolo 

Valleraro 

1593 

Rome 

1629 

Quagliati,  Paolo 

.? 

159s 

Rome 

CI  660 

Scheidemann,  Heinrich  . 

Hamburg 

1596 

Hamburg 

1663 

Cavalli,  Francesco  . 

Crema 

1600 

Venice 

1676 

Chambonniers,  Champion 

de         .... 

? 

1600 

Venice 

1670 

Rovetta,  Giovanni   . 

Venice 

1600 

Venice 

1668 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


321 


Name. 


Bach, Johann  . 

Aylward,  Richard 

Schop,  Johann 

Child,  William 

Dumont,  Henri 

Lowe,  Edward 

Hammerschmidt, 
Andreas 

Bach,  Christoph 

Rogers,  Dr.  Benj.     . 

Bach,  Heinrich 

Gibbons,  Cluistopher 

Nivers,      Guillaume    Ga- 
briel     .... 

Reinken,  Johann  Adam  . 

Ahle,  John  Rudolph 

Legrenzi,  Giovanni 

Liberati,  Antoine     . 

Brie  gel,  Wolfgang  Carl    . 

Kerl,  Johann  Kaspar 

Couperin,  Louis 

Albrici,  Vincenzo 

Couperin,  Francis     . 

Locke,  Matthew 

Fabricius,  Werner    . 

Froberger,  Johann  J. 

Pasquini,  Bernardo  . 

Couperin,  Charles    . 

Buxtehude,  Dietrich 

Strungk,  Nicolas  Adam  . 

Alberti,  Joh.  Frederick     . 
Bach,  Joh.  Christoph 
Bach,  Joh.  Egidius  . 
Bach,  Joh.  Ambrosius 
Reading,  John . 
Werckmeister,  Andreas  . 
Bach,  Joh.  Michael  . 
Blow  (Dr.)  John 

Krieger,  Johann  Philipp  . 
Ahle,  Johann  G. 
Pachelbel,  Johann    . 
Blankenburg,  Quirin  von 
Liibeck,  Vincentius . 
MuflEatt,  George 


Place  and  Date  of 
Birth. 


Place  and  Date  of 
Death. 


Wechmar  1604 

Winchester  ? 

Germany  1605 

Bristol  1606 

Liege  1610 

Salisbury  1610 

Brux,  Boh.  161 1 

Wechmar  161 3 

Windsor  1614 

Weimar  161 5 

Westminster  161 5 

near  Melun  161 7 
Deventer  1623 
Miihlhausen  1625 
Clusone  1625 
Foligno  1625 
Darmstadt  1626 
Ligoldstadt  1628 
Chaume  1630 
Rome  1 63 1 
Chaume  1631 
Exeter,  Eng.  1632 
Ttzehoe  1633 
Halle  1635 
Tuscany  1637 
Chaume  1638 
Helsingfors  1639 
Celle,  Hano- 
ver 1640 
Tonning  1642 
Arnstadt  1642 
Erfurt  1645 
Erfurt  1645 
England  1645 
Ben  eckenstein  1645 
Arnstadt  1648 
N.  Colhng- 

ham  164S 

Nuremberg  1649 

Miihlhausen  1650 

Nuremberg  1653 

Gouda  1654 
Paddingbiittel  1654 

Bremen  ?  1654 


Erfurt 

Norwich 

Hamburg 

Windsor 

Paris 

Oxford 

Zittau 

Arnstadt 

Oxford 

Arnstadt 

Westminster 


1673 
1669 

1640 

1697 

1684 

1682 

1675 
1661 
1698 
1692 
1676 


.''  living  in 

i70t 

Hamburg 

1722 

Miihlhausen 

1673 

Venice 

1690 

? 

1690 

Darmstadt 

171C 

Munich 

1693 

Paris 

1665 

Prague 

1696 

Paris 

1698 

London 

1677 

Leipzig 

1679 

Hericourt 

1695 

Rome 

1710 

St.  Gervais 

1669 

Liibeck 

1707 

Leipzig 

1700 

Merseburg 

1710 

Eisenach 

1703 

Erfurt 

1717 

Eisenach 

1695 

W^inchester? 

1692 

Halberstadt 

1706 

Gehren 

1694 

Westminster 

1708 

W  eissenfels 

1725 

Miihlhausen 

1706 

Nuremberg 

1706 

Hague 

1739 

Hamburg 

1740 

Passau 

1704 

'322 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date 

of 

Name. 

Hirth. 

Death. 

Lalande,  Michael  Richard 

Paris 

1657 

Paris 

1726 

Purceli,  Henry 

Westminster 

165S 

Westminster 

1695 

Scarlatti,  Alessandro 

Trapani 

1659 

Naples 

1725 

Fux,  Johann  Joseph 

Hirtenfield 

i66q 

Vienna 

1741 

Purceli,  Daniel 

London 

1660 

London 

1718 

Bohm,  Georg 

Goldbach 

1661 

Luneburg 

1734 

Zachau,  Frederick  W. 

Leipzig 

1663 

Halle 

1712 

Bishop,  John    . 

England 

1665 

Winchester 

1737 

Bruhns,  Nicolaus     . 

Schaabstadt 

1666 

Hiisum 

1697 

Buttstedt,  Johann  H. 

Bindeuleben 

1666 

p:rfurt 

1727 

Kuhnau,  Johann 

Geysing 

1667 

Leijjzig 

1722 

Lotti,  Antonio 

Venice 

1667 

Venice 

1740 

Couperin,  Fran9ois  . 

Paris 

1668 

Paris 

1733 

March  and,  L.  . 

Lyons 

1669 

Paris 

173- 

Bach,  Joh.  Nikolaus 

Eisenach 

1669 

Eisenach 

1753 

Clarke,  Jeremiah 

England 

1669 

London 

1707 

Murschauser,  F.  X.  A.     . 

Alsace 

1670 

Munich 

1735 

Richardson,  Vaughan 

England 

1670 

Winchester 

1729 

Bach,  Joh.  Christoph 

Erfurt 

1 67 1 

Ohrdruff 

1721 

Casini,  Giovanni .     . 

Florence 

1675 

? 

? 

Bach,  Joh.  Bernhard 

Erfurt 

1676 

Eisenach 

1749 

Clairembault,  Louis  N.    . 

England 

1676 

? 

1749 

Weldon,  John 

Chichester 

1676 

London 

1736 

Reading,  John . 

England 

1677 

London 

1764 

Croft,  Wm.      . 

Nether-Eat- 

ington 

1678 

Bath 

1727 

Couperin,  Nicolas    . 

Paris 

16S0 

Paris 

174S 

Czernhorski,  Bohu.slaw     . 

Bohemia 

1680 

liohemia 

1740 

Eckelt,  Johann  Valentin  . 

Wernings- 

hausen 

CI  680 

Sondershausen 

1734 

Greco,  Gaetano 

Naples 

1680 

? 

? 

Mattheson,  Johann  . 

Hamburg 

1681 

Hamburg 

1764 

Telemann,  Georg  Phillip 

Magdeburg 

i68t 

Hamburg 

1767 

Robinson,  John 

P^ngland 

1682 

Westminster 

1762 

Ileinrich,  Johann  D. 

Weissenfels 

1683 

Dresden 

1729 

Rameau,  Jean  P. 

Dijon 

1683 

Paris 

1764 

Scarlatti,  Domenico 

Naples 

1683 

Naples 

1757 

Walther,  John  Gottfried  . 

Erfurt 

1684 

Weimar 

1748 

Bach,  Joh.  Sebastian 

Eisenach 

1685 

Leipzig 

1750 

Gebel,  Georg    . 

Breslau 

1685 

Breslau 

1750 

Handel,  Georg  Friedrich 

Halle 

1685 

London 

1759 

Hine,  Wm. 

Oxford 

1687 

Gloucester 

1730 

Purceli,  Edward 

Westminster 

1689 

T-ondon 

1740 

Muffat,  August  G.   . 

? 

1690 

Vienna 

1770 

Roseingrave,  Thomas 

Dublin 

1690 

London.? 

1750 

Barrett,  John  . 

England 

1691 

London 

1740 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


323 


Namb. 

Place  and  Date 

of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Birth. 

Death. 

Bachofen,  Johann  Caspar 

Zurich                ] 

692 

Zurich 

1755 

Daquin,  Louis  Claude 

Paris 

1694 

Paris 

1772 

Leo,  Leonardo 

Bnndisi 

1694 

Naples 

1746 

Greene,  Maurice 

London 

[696 

London 

1755 

Kunzen,  Joliann  Paul 

Leisnig 

1696 

Liibeck 

1770 

Hurlebusch,  Conrad  F.    . 

Brannschweig 

1696 

Amsterdam 

176? 

Petrali,  Vincenzo  A. 

Crema 

1697 

? 

1780 

Valotti,  F.  Antonio 

Vercelli 

1697 

Padua 

1780 

Wagner,  Georg  G. 

Miihlberg 

169S 

Plauen 

1760 

Adling,  Jacob  . 

Erfurt 

[699 

Erfurt 

1762 

Schroter,  Christopher  G. 

Hohenstein 

[699 

Nordhauser 

1782 

Eberlein,  J.  E. 

Jettcrbach 

17CO 

Salzburg 

1762 

Kehvay,  Thomas 

England 

[700 

England 

1749 

Tansur,  William 

Dunchurch     c\ 

700 

St.  Neots 

1783 

Gerber,  Heinrich  N. 

Sonders- 

hausen 

[702 

Sondershausen  1775 

Kelway,  Joseph 

England 

[702 

England 

1782 

Sorge,  Andreas 

Mellenbach 

1703 

Lobenstein 

1778 

James,  John 

England 

[704 

England 

1745 

Pescetto,  Giovanni  B. 

Venice 

[704 

Venice 

1766 

Sammartini,  Giovanni  B. 

Milan               c 

[705 

? 

^1775 

Zach,  Johann   . 

Czelakowicz 

[705 

Bruschal 

1773 

Hayes,  Wm.     . 

Hanbury 

1706 

Oxford 

1777 

Martini,  Padre    Giambat- 

tista      .... 

Bologna 

[706 

Bologna 

1784 

Travers,  John  . 

England 

[706 

England 

1758 

Avison,  Charles 

New  Castle 

1710 

New  Castle 

1770 

Bach,  Wilhelm  F  .    . 

Weimar 

[710 

Berlin 

1784 

Berlin,  Johann  D.     . 

Memel               i 

710 

Drontheim 

1775 

Boyce,  William 

London             1 

710 

Kensington 

1779 

Howard,  Samuel 

London             1 

710 

London 

1782 

Santarelli,  A.  G. 

Forti                   ] 

710 

Rome 

1770 

Keeble,  John    . 

Chiche;ter        i 

711 

London 

1786 

Venturelli,  G.  . 

Nubreil             i 

711 

Modena 

1775 

Krebs,  Johann  L.     . 

Buttelstadt       1 

[713 

Altenburg 

1780 

Stanley,  Chas.  John 

London 

713 

London 

1786 

Homilius,  Gottfried  A.     . 

Rosenthal         i 

[714 

Dresden 

1785 

Alcock,  John    . 

London 

[715 

Lichfield 

1806 

Doles,  Johann  F. 

Stein  bach          ] 

1715 

Leipzig 

1797 

Nares,  James    . 

Stanwell            1 

715 

London 

1783 

Worgan,  John  . 

England            ] 

1715 

London 

1790 

Segert,  Joseph 

Repin,  Boh. 

716 

Prague 

1782 

Agricola,  Johann  F. 

Quedlinburg     1 

7.8 

Matjdeburg 

1785 

Marpurg,  F.  W. 

Seehausen         1 

718 

Berlin 

1795 

Rolle,  Johann  Heinrich    . 

Quedlin'iurg     i 

718 

Magdeburg 

1785 

Kunzen,  Adolf  Carl 

Wittenberg      1 

720 

Liibeck 

1781 

324 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Name. 

Place  and  Date 

of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Birth. 

Death. 

Couperin,  Armand  Louis 

Paris                  1 

721 

Paris 

1789 

Gheyn,  Matthias  van  den 

Tirlemont         i 

721 

Lou  vain 

1785 

Kirnberger,  Johann 

Saalfield           i 

721 

Berlin 

1783 

Bach,  Joh.  Ernst 

Eisenach           i 

722 

Eisenach 

fi777 

Jones,  John 

London             i 

725 

London 

1796 

Becker,  Johann 

Helsa                 ] 

726 

.' 

1803 

Barney,  Chas.  . 

Shrewsbury 

726 

Chelsea 

1814 

Schmiigel,  Johann  Ch. 

Hanover           i 

726 

Mollen 

1796 

Richter,  John  Christian  C. 

Neustadt          ) 

727 

Schwarzen 

1779 

Aldgasser,  Anton 

Cajetan 

Innzell               i 

728 

Salzburg 

1777 

Richter,  Carl  G. 

Berhn                 i 

728 

Konigsberg 

i<So9 

Langdon,  Richard    . 

Exeter,  Eng.    i 

729 

Exeter 

1803 

Sarti,  Giuseppe 

Faenza              i 

729 

Berhn 

1802 

Aylward,  Theodore  . 

England            i 

730 

London 

1801 

Charpentier,  Jean  J.  B.    . 

Abbeville 

[730 

? 

? 

Goldberg,    Johann    Gott- 

lieb       .... 

Konigsberg 

1730 

Dresden 

1760 

Jackson,  William 

f^xeter 

^ll"^ 

Exeter 

1803 

Pasterwitz,  Georg  von 

Passau 

1730 

Kremsmiinster  1803 

Albrecht,  Johann  L. 

Goimar 

^IZ'2- 

Miihlhausen 

1773 

Haydn,  Josef  . 

Rohrau, 

Austria 

1732 

Vienna 

1809 

Kittel,  Johann  Christian  . 

Erfurt                l 

[732 

Erfurt 

i8oq 

Dupuis,  Thomas  S. 

England 

'733 

London 

1796 

Nicolai,  David  T.     . 

(^.5rlitz 

^733 

Gijrlitz 

1799 

Zang,  Johann  lleinrich     . 

Zella 

1733 

Mainstockheim  181 1 

Ayrton,  Edmund 

Yorkshire 

1734 

Westminster 

1 80S 

Cooke,  Benjamin 

London 

1734 

London 

1793 

Bach,  Joh.  Christian 

Leipzig 

'735 

London 

.1782 

Bond,  Hugh     . 

Exeter 

'735 

Exeter 

1792 

Langdon,  Richard    . 

Exeter 

1735 

Exeter 

1803 

Miller,  Edward 

Norwich 

'735 

Doncaster 

1S07 

Albrechtsberger,  Jo- 

hann G.         .         .         . 

Vienna 

[736 

Vienna 

1809 

Beckmann,  J.  F.  Gottlieb 

1 

'737 

Celle 

1792 

Haydn,  John  Michael 

Rohrau             i 

1737 

Salzburg 

1806 

Battishill,  Jonathan 

London             i 

[738 

Lslington 

1801 

Buroni,  Antonio 

Rome 

'738 

Rome 

1797 

Furlanetto,  Bonaventura. 

Venice               i 

'738 

Venice 

1817 

Hayes,  Philip 

Oxford              1 

'738 

Oxford 

1797 

Herschel,  Friedrich  W.    . 

Hanover           l 

'738 

Slough 

1822 

Corfe,  Joseph  . 

Salisbury 

1740 

Salisbury 

1820 

Frick,  Philipp  Joseph 

Wiirzburg 

[740 

London 

1798 

Webbe,  Samuel 

Minorca 

[740 

London 

1816 

Arnold,  Samuel 

London 

'743 

London 

1802 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


325 


Name. 


Weinlig,  Christian  Elire- 
gott       .         .         .         . 

Sejan,  Nicolas 

Hook,  James    . 

Hassler,  Johann  W. 

Wainwright,  Robert 

Neefe,  Christian  G. 

Stadler,  Al)be  Max  . 

Forkel,  Johann  N.    . 

Percy,  John 

Rembt,  Johann  E.    . 

Vogler,  Geotg  Joseph 

Beckw-ith,  John  Christian 

Franz,  Joachim  L.    . 

Sterkel,  Abbe  Johann 
F.  X 

Vierling,     Johann  Gott- 
fried     .         .         .         . 

Fischer,  Johann  G. 

Kucharz,  Johann  Baptist 

Bianchi,  Francesco  . 

Clementi,  Muzio 

Knecht,  Justus  H.    . 

Knyvett.  Charles 

Schicht,  Johann  Gottfried 

Bachmann,  Pater  Sixtus 

Banmgarten,  Carl  F. 
Becvarovsky,  Anton 

Felix     .         .         .         . 
Martin  y  Solar,  Vincente 
Bittoni,  Bernardo 
Busby,  Thomas 
Mozart,  J.  C.  W.  C. 
Turck,  Daniel  Gottlob     . 

Cogan,  Philip  . 
Danby,  John     . 
Reeve,  Wm.     . 
Calegari,  Antonio     . 
Gelinek,  Abbe  Joseph 
Greatorex,  Thomas  . 
Jackson,   William     . 
Beckwith,  John  C.    . 
Krommer,  Franz 
Schlirabach,  Georg  . 


Place  and  Date  of 
Birth. 


Dresden 

Paris 

Norwich 

Erfurt 

Liverpool 

Chemnitz 

Molk 

Co  burg 

England 

Suhl 

Wiirzburg 

Norwich 

Havelberg 


1743 

1745 
1746 

1747 
1747 
1748 

1748 
1749 
1749 
1749 

1749 

1750 

1750 


Wiirzburg         1750 

Metzels  1750 

Freiburg  r75i 

Chotecz,  Boh.  1751 

1752 

1752 

1752 
1752 

1753 

1754 
1754 

1754 
1754 
1755 
1755 
1756 

1756 
1757 
1757 
1757 
1758 
1758 
1758 
1758 

1759 
1760 
1760 


Cremona 
Rome 
Biberach 
? 

Reichenau 
Kettershausen 


Jungbunzlau 
Valencia 
Fabriano 
Westminster 
Salzburg 
Claussitz, 
Saxony 
Doncaster 
England 
London 
Padua 
Selcz 
Derby 
Exeter 
Norwich 
Kamenitz 
Ohrdruff 


Place  and  Date  of 
Death. 


Dresden 

Paris 

Boulogne 

Moscow 

Liverpool 

Dessau 

Vienna 

GOttingen 

Liverpool 

Suhl 

Darmstadt 

Norwich 

Kyritz 

Mayence 

Schmalkalden 

Freiburg 

Prague 

Bologna 

Evesham,  Eng. 

Biberach 

London 

Leipzig 

Marchthal 
London 

Berlin 

St.  Petersburg 

London 
Vienna 

Halle 

> 

London 

London 

Padua 

Vienna 

Hampton 

Exeter, 

Norwich 

Vienna 


813 

819 
827 
822 

782 
798 

833 
818 

797 
810 

814 
809 

789 
817 


«i3 
821 
829 
811 
832 
817 


818 
824 

823 
810 
829 
838 
791 

813 

828 

789 

815 
828 

825 

831 
803 
809 

831 
8? 


326 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birtli. 

Death. 

Abeille,  Johann  Christian 

Bayreuth 

1761 

Stuttgart              1 

838 

Diissek,  Joh.  Ladislaus    . 

Caslav,  Boh. 

1761 

Saint-Germain    1 

812 

Giirrlicli,  Joseph  Augus- 

tine      .... 

Miinsterberg 

1761 

Berlin                  1 

817 

Agthe,  Carl  Christian 

Hettstadt 

1762 

Ballenstadt 

t797 

Ahlstrohm,  A.  J.  R. 

Stockholm 

1762 

.?              c 

[827 

Bachmann,    Gottlob 

Bornitz 

^l^Z 

Zeitz 

[840 

Umbreit,  Karl  Gottlieb    . 

Rehstedt 

1763 

Rehstedt 

[829 

Holder,  Joseph  \Vm. 

London 

1764 

London 

1832 

Attwood,  Thomas    . 

London 

1765 

Chelsea 

1838 

Chard,  George  W.   . 

England 

1765 

Winchester 

■849 

Callcott,  John  Wall 

Kensington 

1766 

Kensington 

[821 

Kaufmann,  Carl 

Berlin 

1766 

Vienna 

1808 

Ladurner,  Ignas  A.  F.  X. 

Aldein,  Tyrol 

1766 

Villain 

1839 

Reefe,    John     . 

Greenwich 

1766 

? 

1837 

Wesley,  Samuel 

Bristol 

1766 

London 

1837 

Muller,  August  Eberhard 

Nordheim 

1767 

Weimar 

[817 

Cabo,  Francesco  Xavier  . 

Valencia 

1768 

Spain 

1832 

Rimbault,  Stephen  F. 

London 

1768 

London 

1837 

Clark-Whitfield,  John      . 

Gloucester 

1770 

Hereford 

1836 

Grazioli,  Giambattista 

Venice 

1770 

Venice 

1S20 

Rinck,  John  Christian  H. 

Elgersburg 

1770 

Darmstadt 

1846 

W^ebbe,  Samuel 

London 

1770 

Hammersmith 

1843 

Rieder,  Ambrosius   . 

Near  Vienna 

1771 

Vienna 

18  ^9 

Bergt,  Christian  Gottlob . 

Oderan 

1772 

Bantzen 

1837 

Carnaby,  Wm. 

London 

1772 

London 

■839 

Corfe,  Arthur  T.      . 

Salisbury 

1772 

Salisbury 

1863 

Baker,  George 

Exeter 

-i-lll) 

Rugeley 

[847 

Fischer,  Michael  Gott- 

hard      .... 

Alack 

"^111 

Erfurt 

1829 

Horsley,  Wm. 

London 

1774 

London 

[858 

Linley,  Frances 

Doncaster 

1774 

Doncaster 

t8oo 

Thomaschek,  Johann  W. 

Skutsch 

1774 

Prague 

1850 

Chappie,  vSamuel 

Crediton 

1775 

Ashburton 

1847 

Crotch,  William 

Norwich 

1775 

Taunton 

1847 

Barthel,  Joh.  Christian     . 

Plauden 

1776 

Altenburg 

1831 

Smart,  George  (Sir) 

London 

1776 

London 

1867 

Werner,  John  Gottlob      . 

Grossenhain 

1777 

Merseburg 

[822 

Russell,  Wm. 

London 

1777 

London 

1813 

Gansbacher,  J.  B.     . 

Sterzing 

1778 

\jenna 

1844 

Jacob,  Benjamin 

London 

1778 

London 

r829 

Kemp,  Joseph  . 

Exeter 

1778 

London 

1824 

Neukomm,  Sigismund 

Salzburg 

177S 

Paris 

1858 

Riem,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 

Kolleda 

1779 

Bremen 

1S57 

Taskin,  Henri  Joseph 

Versailles 

1779 

Paris 

■ 

1852 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


327 


Name. 

Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Birth. 

Death. 

Berner,  Friedrich  W. 

Breslau 

1780 

Breslau 

1827 

Novello,  Vincent 

London 

1781 

Nice 

1861 

Piazza,  Pietro  . 

Milan 

1781 

Milan 

1855 

Purkis,  John    . 

London 

1781 

London 

1849 

Blewitt,  Jonathan     . 

London 

1782 

London 

1853 

Dreschler,  Joseph     . 

Wallisch-Boi- 

ken.  Boh. 

1782 

Vienna 

1852 

Schneider,  Wilhelm 

Neudorf,  Sax 

1783 

Merseburg 

1843 

Walmisley,  Thomas 

London 

1783 

London 

1866 

Fetis,  Fran9ois  Joseph     . 

Mons,  Bel. 

1784 

Brussels 

1871 

Klengel,  August  A. 

Dresden 

1784 

Dresden 

1852 

Adams,  Thomas 

London 

1785 

London 

1858 

Boely,  Alexandre  P. 

Versailles 

1785 

Paris 

1858 

Blum,  Karl  Ludwig  . 

Berlin 

1786 

Berlin 

1844 

Hamel,  Marie-Pierre 

Auneuil 

1786 

Beauvais 

1870 

Schneider,  Joh.  Christian 

Alt-Walters- 

dorf 

1786 

Dessau 

1853 

Bohner  Johann  L.    . 

near  Gotha 

1787 

Gotha 

1869 

Burrowes,  John  F.    . 

London 

1787 

London 

1852 

Beckwith,  John  C.    . 

Norwich 

1788 

Norwich 

1819 

Ett,  Kaspar 

"Erringen 

1788 

Munich 

1847 

Sechter,  Simon 

Friedburg 

1788 

Vienna 

1867 

Schneider,  Joh.  (Gottlob) 

Alt-Gersdorf 

1789 

Dresden 

1864 

Antony,  Franz  Joseph 

Miinster 

1790 

Miinster 

1837 

Assmayer,  Ignaz 

Salzburg 

1790 

Vienna 

1862 

Pohlenz,  Christian  A. 

-Saalgart 

1790 

Leipzig 

1843 

Topper,  Johann  G.  . 

Neiderrossla 

1791 

Weimar 

1870 

Worischek,  Johann  G.     . 

Vamberk, 

Boh. 

1791 

Vienna 

1825 

Kellner,  Ernst  August 

Windsor 

1792 

London 

1839 

Zollner,  Carl  H. 

Ols 

1792 

Hamburg 

1836 

Perry,  George  . 

Norwich 

1793 

Norwich 

1862 

Benoist,  Fran5ois 

Nantes 

1794 

Paris 

1878 

Jolly,  John 

Cheshire 

1794 

London 

1830 

Albeniz,  Pedro 

Legroiio 

1795 

Madrid 

1855 

Bach,  August  Wilhelm    . 

Berlin 

1796 

Berlin 

1896 

Hodges,  Edward 

Bristol 

1796 

Clifton 

1867 

Nixon,  Henri  G. 

Winchester 

1796 

London 

1849 

Bibl,  Andreas  . 

Vienna 

1797 

Vienna 

1878 

Freudenberg    . 

Sipta 

1797 

Breslau 

1869 

Lambillotte,  Pere  Louis  . 

Charleroi 

1797 

Vaugirard 

1855 

Enckhausen,  Heinrich  F. 

Celle 

T799 

Hanover 

1885 

Hayter,  A.  W  . 

Gillingham, 

Eng. 

1799 

Boston,  Mass. 

^1870 

Kbhler,  Ernst  . 

Langenbielau 

1799 

Breslau 

1847 

Goss,  John 

Fareham 

1800 

Brixton 

1880 

323 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Namb. 


Grell,  Eduard  August 
Oliver,  Henry  Kemble 

Turle,  Jas. 

Webb,  George  Jas.  . 

Becker,  Karl  Ferdinand  . 
Forbes,  Henry 
Elvey,  Stephen 
Schneider  (Johann  Julius) 
Weber,  Franz  . 
Gauntlett,  Henry  John     . 
May,  Edward  Collett 
Wendt,  Ernst  A. 
Callcott,  Wm.  Henry 
Eslava,  Don  Miguel  H.    . 
Fiihrer,  Robert 
Mattheson-Hansen,  Hans 
Preyer,  Gottfried 
Saldoni,  Don  Baltasar 
Vogel,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
Andre,  Julius.  . 
Gauthier,  Gabriel     . 

Richter,  Ernst  F.  E. 

Hesse,  Adolf  (Friedrich)  . 

Kiihnstedt,  Frit-drich 

Jimmerthal,  Hermann 

Mendelssohn,  Felix . 

Bayley,  Wm.    . 

Concone,  Giuseppe  . 

Haiipt,  Karl  August 

Kiicken,  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm     .         .         .         . 

Nicolai,  Otto    . 

Rotter,  Ludwig 

Wesley,  Samuel  Sebas- 
tian  

Beckel,  James  Cox  . 

Capocci,  Gaetano 

Flowers,  Geo.  F. 

Lachner,  Vincenz 

Ritter,  August  G.     . 

Timm,  Henry  Christian    . 

Bastians,  J.  G. 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Birth. 

Death. 

Berlin 

1800 

Steglitz 

1886 

Beverly, 

Mass. 

1800 

Boston 

1885 

Taunton,  Eng 

.1801 

London 

1882 

Rushmore 

Lodge 

1803 

Orange,  N.  J. 

1887 

Leipzig 

1804 

Leipzig 

1877 

London 

1804 

London 

1859 

Canterbury 

1805 

( )xford 

i860 

Berlin 

1805 

Berlin 

1885 

Cologne 

1805 

Cologne 

1876 

Wellington 

1806 

Kensington 

1876 

Greenwich 

1806 

London 

1887 

Schweibus 

1806 

Neuweid 

1850 

Kensington 

1807 

London 

1882 

Pamplona 

1807 

Madrid 

1878 

Prague 

1807 

Vienna 

1861 

Fleusburg 

1807 

Roeskilde 

1890 

Hausbrunn 

1807 

> 

_? 

Barcelona 

1807 

? 

1890 

Havelberg 

1807 

? 

? 

Offenbach 

1808 

Frankfort 

1880 

Saone-et- 

Loire 

1808 

? 

? 

Gross,  Schb- 

nau 

1808 

Leipzig 

1879 

Breslau 

1809 

Breslau 

1863 

Oldisleben 

1809 

Eisenach 

1858 

Liibeck 

1809 

Liibeck 

1886 

Hamburg 

1809 

Leipzig 

1847 

London 

1810 

London 

1858 

Turin 

1810 

Turin 

1861 

Kunern 

1810 

Berlin 

1891 

Bleckede 

1810 

Schwerin 

1882 

Kbnigsberg 

1810 

Berlin 

1849 

Vienna 

1810 

Vienna 

1895 

I-ondon 

1810 

Gloucester 

1876 

Philadelphia 

1811 

? 

? 

Rome 

1811 

Rome 

1898 

Boston,  Eng. 

1811 

London 

1872 

Rain 

1811 

Karlsruhe 

1892 

Erfurt 

1811 

Magdeburg 

1885 

Hamburg 

1811 

New  York 

1892 

Welp 

1812 

Haarlem 

1875 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


329 


Name. 

Place  and  Date 
Birth. 

of 

Place  and  Date 
Death. 

of 

Fliigel,  Gustav. 

Nienburg  on 

Saale             1 

812 

Stettin 

1900 

Hanisch,  Joseph 

Ratisbon           ] 

812 

Ratisbon 

1892 

Nisard,  Theodore     . 

Quaregnon       ] 

812 

Volckmar,  Wilhelm 

Hersfeld           1 

812 

Homberg 

1887 

Commer,  Franz 

Cologne            ] 

813 

Berlin 

1887 

Corfe,  Chas.  Wm.    . 

Salisbury           1 

813 

Oxford 

1883 

Meluzzi,  Salvatore    . 

Rome                 1 

813 

Rome 

1897 

Moniuszko,  Stanislaw 

Ubiel,  Lithua- 

nia                 I 

813 

Warsaw 

1872 

Pentenrieder,  Franz  X.     . 

Kaufbeuren, 

Bav.               1 

813 

Munich 

1867 

Smart,  Henry  . 

London             1 

813 

London 

1879 

Abela,  Don  Placido 

Syracuse           i 

814 

Monte  Cassino 

1876 

WaJmisley,  Thomas  A.    . 

London             1 

814 

Hastings 

1856 

Berthold,  K.  F.  Th.  . 

Dresden            ] 

815 

Dresden 

1882 

Brosig,  Moritz 

Furchswinkel 

[815 

Breslau 

1887 

Done,  Wm. 

Worcester, 

Eng.               1 

815 

Worcester 

1895 

Grosjean,  Jean-Romary    . 

Rochesson        1 

8IS 

St.  Die 

1888 

Franz,  Robert  . 

Halle                 1 

815 

Halle 

1892 

Jackson,  Wm. 

Masham            1 

815 

Bradford 

1866 

Elvey,  Sir  George  J. 

Canterbury       i 

816 

Windlesham 

1893 

Engel,  David  Hermann    . 

Neuruppin        1 

[816 

Merseburg 

1877 

Krenn,  Franz   . 

Dross 

[816 

St.  Andra  vom 

Hagenthal 

1897 

MarkuU,  Friedrich    . 

Reichenbach 

[816 

Danzig 

1887 

Pittman,  Josiah 

London 

[816 

Rimbault,  Edward  F. 

London 

[816 

London 

1876 

Schellenberg,  Hermann    . 

Leipzig              ] 

816 

Plagwitz 

1862 

Thiele,  Carl  Ludwig 

Harzegerode 

[816 

Berlin 

1848 

Gade,  Niels  Wilhelm 

Copenhagen 

[817 

Copenhagen 

1890 

Lefebure-Wely,  Louis 

J- A 

Paris 

I8I7 

Paris 

1869 

Leybach,  Ignace 

Gambsheim 

I8I7 

Toulouse 

1891 

Kuntze,  Carl     . 

Trier 

I8I7 

Delitzsch 

1883 

Stade,  Friedrich  W. 

Halle 

I8I7 

Altenburg 

1902 

Battman,  Jacques  L. 

Alsace 

I8I8 

Dijon 

1886 

Hopkins,  Edward  John    . 

Westminster 

I8I8 

Rochester 

1900 

Jackson,  Samuel  P. 

Manchester 

I8I8 

Brooklyn 

1885 

Kufferath,  Hubert    . 

Muhlheim 

[8:8 

Brussels 

1896 

Cavallo,  Peter 

Munich 

[819 

Paris 

1892 

Farmer,  Henry 

Nottingham 

[819 

Nottingham 

1891 

Langer,  Herman 

Hockendorf 

1819 

Dresden 

1819 

Longhurst,  Wm.  H. 

Lambeth           i 

819 

Monk,  Edwin  George 

Frome              1 

819 

England 

1900 

330 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Namb. 

Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date 

of 

Birth. 

Death. 

Stirling,  Elizabeth    . 

Greenwich        i 

1819 

London 

1895 

Sturges,  Edmund 

London 

[819 

London 

1849 

Tuckerman,  Samuel  P.     . 

Boston,  Mass. 

819 

Newport,  R.  L 

1890 

Batiste,  Antoine  E. 

Paris                  1 

820 

Paris 

1870 

Cooper,  George 

Lambeth           i 

820 

London 

1876 

Franck,  Joseph 

Liege 

1820 

Gurlitt,  Cornelius     . 

Altona 

[820 

Altona 

1901 

Hopkins,  John  L.     . 

Westminster 

820 

Ventnor 

1873 

Lux,  Friedrich 

Ruhla 

[820 

Mayence 

1895 

Redhead,  Richard    . 

Harrow,  Eng. 

[820 

Root,  George  Frederick   . 

Sheffield 

[820 

Barley's  Island 

[189s 

Stimpson,  James 

Lincoln 

[82c 

Vierling,  Georg 

Frankenthal 

[820 

Bonicke,  Hermann  . 

Endorf 

1821 

Hermannstadt 

1879 

Calcott,  John  G. 

l-ondon 

1821 

London 

1895 

Harraden,  Samuel    . 

Cambridge 

1821 

Hampstead 

1897 

Rebling,  Gustav 

Barby 

1821 

Magdeburg 

1902 

Stephens,  Chas.  Edward  . 

London 

1821 

London 

1892 

Conradi,  August 

Berlin 

1821 

Berlin 

1887 

Clement,  Felix 

Paris 

t822 

Paris 

1885 

Franck,  Cesar  Auguste    . 

Liege                 i 

[822 

Paris 

1890 

Herzog,  Johann  Georg     . 

Schmolz            1 

[822 

Lambeth,  Henry  A. 

Gosport             J 

822 

Litzavv,  Johannes     . 

Rotterdam        i 

822 

Rotterdam 

1893 

Nightingale,  Joseph  C.    . 

Liverpool          i 

822 

Reinthaler,  Carl  M. 

Erfurt                ] 

822 

Bremen 

1896 

Rust,  Wilhelm 

Dessau              ] 

822 

Leipzig 

1892 

Young,  John  M.  W. 

Durham            i 

822 

Norwood 

1897 

Chipp,  Edmund  Thomas  . 

London 

[823 

Nice 

1886 

Eycken,  Jan  A.  von 

Amersfoort 

[823 

Elberfeld 

1864 

Faisst,  Immanuel  G.  F.    . 

Esslingen 

1823 

Stuttgart 

1894 

Lemmens,  Jacques- 

Nicolas 

Zoerle-Parwys 

[823 

M  alines 

1881 

Lijtzel,  Johann  Heinrich  . 

Iggleheim 

823 

Zweibriicken 

1899 

Monk,  W.  Henry     . 

London 

[823 

Stoke-Newing- 
ton 

1889 

Schwencke,  Friedrich  G.  . 

Hamburg          ] 

1823 

Hamburg 

1896 

Spark,  Dr.  William 

Exeter,  Eng.    i 

823 

Leeds 

1897 

Witt,  Theodor  de     . 

Wesel                I 

823 

Rome 

1855 

Zellner,  Leopold 

A  gram               i 

823 

Vienna 

1894 

Bexfield,  W.  Richard 

Norwich            i 

824 

London 

1853 

Bruckner,  Anton 

Ansfelden         i 

824 

Vienna 

1896 

Coward,  James 

London             i 

824 

London 

1880 

Ferrari,  Serafino  A.  de     . 

Genoa               i 

824 

Genoa 

1885 

Fawcett,  John 

Bolton-le- 

Moors           1 

824 

Farnworth 

1857 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


331 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Kirchner,  Th. 

Neukirchen 

[824 

Bristow,  George  Fred- 

erick     .... 

Brooklyn 

1825 

N.  Y. 

1898 

Hoi,  Richard    . 

Amsterdam 

[825 

Ouseley,  Sir  Frederick 

A.  G 

London             i 

825 

Hereford 

1889 

Stewart,  Robert  P.  . 

Dublin               1 

1825 

Dublin 

1894 

Walter,  Wm.  Henry 

Newark             i 

825 

Best,  Wm.  Thos.      . 

Carlisle 

[826 

Liverpool 

1897 

Coccon,  Nicolo 

Venice               l 

[826 

Hiles,  Henry    . 

Shrewsbury 

[826 

Martin,  Geo.  W. 

London             i 

826 

New  York  ? 

Papperitz,  Benjamin  R.    . 

Pirna,  Sax.       i 

826 

Steggall,  Chas. 

London 

1826 

Belcher,  Wm.  T.       . 

Birmingham 

1827 

Calkin,  John  Baptiste 

London 

[827 

Fischer,  Adolf 

Uckermlinde 

[827 

Breslau 

1893 

Gottschalg,  Alexander 

Mechelrode 

[827 

Hagemann,  Fran9ois  W.  . 

Zutphen 

[827 

Lake,  Geo.  H. 

Uxbridge 

[827 

London 

1865 

Merkel,  Gustav  (Adolf)    . 

Oberoderwitz 

[827 

Dresden 

1885 

Nunn,  John  H. 

Bury  St. 
Edmunds 

1827 

Phelps,  Ellsworth  C. 

Middletown, 
Conn. 

1827 

Rea,  Wm. 

London 

1827 

Cornell,  John  Henry 

New  York 

1828 

New  York 

1894 

Dommer,  A.  von 

Danzig 

1828 

Fischer,  Carl  August 

Ebersdorf 

1828 

Dresden 

1892 

Gevaert,  Frangois 

Auguste 

Huysse 

1828 

Parker,  Jas.  Cutler  Dunn. 

Boston,  Mass. 

1828 

Reay,  Samuel  . 

Hexham 

1828 

Warren,  George  W. 

Racine,  Wis. 

1828 

New  York 

1902 

Brown,  Obadiah  Bruen     . 

Washington 

1829 

Boston 

1901 

Lichner,  Heinrich     . 

Harpersdorf 

[829 

Breslau 

1898 

Nicolai,  Wilhelm  Fred- 

erick     .... 

Leyden 

1829 

The  Hague 

1896 

Papier,  Ludwig 

Leipzig 

1829 

Leipzig 

1878 

Stiehl,  Heinrich  Franz 

Liibeck, 

1829 

Reval 

1886 

Vilbac,  Alphonse-Charles 

MontpeUer, 

Fr. 

1829 

Paris 

1884 

Barry,  Chas.  Ainslie 

London 

1830 

Durand,  Marie  Auguste  . 

Paris 

1830 

Fumagalli,  Polibio . 

Inzago 

1830 

Milan 

1893 

Oakeley,  Sir  Herbert 

Ealing 

1830 

332 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Name. 


Radecke,  Albert  Martin 

Skuhersky,  Franz  Z. 
Tilborghs,  Joseph 
Jansen,  F.  Gustav 
Fink,  Christian 
Palloni,  Gaetano 
Westljrooke,  Wm.  J. 
Bibl,  Rudolph  . 
Matthison-Hansen,  Got- 

fred 
Naumann,  Karl  Ernst 
Allen,  Geo.  B. 
Bache,  Francis  E.     . 
Cross,  Michael  Hurley 
Cusins,  Sir  Wm.  Geo. 
Elliott,  James  Wm. 
Forster,  Joseph     . 
Habert,  Johannes  E. 
Hermesdorf,  Michael 
Mailly,  J.  E.     . 
Bunnett,  Edw. 

Garrett,  Geo.  Mursell 
Thorne,  Edward  Henry    . 
Cohen,  Jules  Emile-David 
Dearnaley,  Irvine 
Fromm,  Emil   . 
Prout,  EJjenezer 
Saint-Saens,  Charles  C.    . 
Torrance,  Rev.  George 

Wil 

Ward,  John  Chas.    . 

Young,  Wm.  J. 
Armes,  Phillip 
Dornton,  Chas. 
Farmer,  John   . 
Hartmann,  Emil  (Jr.) 
Hopkins,  Edw.  Jerome     . 

Irgang,  Friederich  Wil- 

helm      .         .         .         . 
Lott,  Edwin  Matthew 

Pearce,  Stephen  Austen  . 


Place  and  Date  of 
Birth. 


Dittmanns- 

dorf 
Bohemia 
Nieuwmoer 
Jever 
Dettingen 
Camerino 
London 
Vienna 

Roeskilde 

Freiberg 

London 

Birmingham 

Philadelphia 

London 

Warwick 

Osojnitz 

Oberplau 

Trier 

Brussels 

Shipham, 

Eng. 
Winchester 
Cranborne 
Marseilles 
England 
Spremberg 
Oundle 
Paris 


1830 
1830 
1830 
183 1 
1831 
1831 
1831 
1832 

1832 
1832 

1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 

1834 
1834 
1834 
1835 
1835 
1835 
1835 
1835 


Rathmines 

183  s 

Upper  Clap- 

ton 

1835 

Durham 

1835 

Norwich 

1836 

London 

1836 

Nottingham 

1836 

Copenhagen 

1836 

Burlington, 

Vt. 

1836 

Hirschberg 

1836 

St.  Helier, 

Jersey 

1836 

London 

1836 

Place  and  Date  of 
Death. 


Budweis 


1892 


Sydenham  1894 


Brisbane  1897 

Birmingham  1858 
Philadelphia  1897 
Remonchamps  1893 


Gmunden 
Trier 


Cambridge 
England 


1896 
1885 


1897 
189s 


Oxford  1 90 1 

Copenhagen       1898 

Athenia,  N.  J.  1898 


1902 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


333 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Bergner,  Wilhelm     . 

Riga 

1837 

Carter,  Henry  . 

London 

1837 

Chauvet,  Chas.  Alexis      . 

Marnes 

1837 

Argentan 

1871 

Dubois,  Clement-Fran9ois 

Rosnay 

1837 

Fairlamb,  Jas.  Remington 

Phila. 

1837 

Gaul,  Alfred  Robert 

Norwich 

1837 

Guilmant,  Alexandre- 

Felix 

Boulogne 

1837 

Lang,  Benjamin  Johnson 

Salem,  Mass. 

1837 

Rheinberger,  Joseph  G.    . 

Vaduz 

1837 

Munich 

1901 

Succo,  Reinhold 

Gorhtz 

1837 

Breslau 

1897 

Torrington,  Frederick 

Dudley,  Eng. 

1837 

Turpin,  Edmund  H. 

Nottingham 

1837 

Archer,  Frederick     . 

Oxford 

1838 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

1901 

Barnby',  Sir  Joseph  . 

York 

1838 

London 

1896 

Fuchs,  Karl  Dorius  J. 

Potsdam 

1838 

Naylor,  John    . 

Stanningley 

1838 

At  sea 

1897 

Thayer,  Eugene  Whitney 

Mendon, 

Mass. 

1838 

Burlington,  Vt 

1889 

Bohn,  Emil 

Bielan 

i!-j9 

Buck,  Dudley  . 

Hartford, 
Conn. 

1839 

Callaerts,  Joseph      . 

Antwerp 

1839 

Clarke,  Hugh  Archibald  . 

Toronto,  Ont 

.1839 

Dienel,  Otto     . 

Silesia 

1839 

Paine,  John  Knowles 

Portland,  Me 

.1839 

Amadei,  Roberto      . 

Loreto 

1840 

Andreoli,  Carlo 

Mirandola 

1840 

Capocci,  Filippo 

Rome 

1840 

Clark,  Rev.  Fred  Scotson 

London 

1840 

London 

1883 

Clarke,  Wil.  Horatio 

Newton, 

r 

Mass. 

1840 

Hill,  Junius  Welch 

Hingham, 
Mass. 

1840 

Jackson,  Robert 

Oldham 

1840 

Lange,  Samuel  de 

Rotterdam 

1840 

Schiedermayer,  Joseph     . 

Ling  on 
Danube 

1840 

Stainer,  Sir  John 

London 

1840 

London 

1901 

Wermann,  Frederick 

Oskar   .... 

Nerchen, 
Saxony 

1840 

Clarke,  Jas.  Hamilton  S.  . 

Birmingham, 
Eng. 

1840 

Bohm,  Joseph  . 

Kiihnitz 

1841 

Vienna 

1893 

Crow,  Edwin  John  . 

Sittingboume  1841 

334 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Lange,  Daniel  de 

Rotterdam 

1841 

Naylor,  Sydney 

London 

1841 

London 

1893 

Parratt,  Sir  Walter  . 

Huddersfield 

1841 

Warren,  Samuel  Prowse  . 

Montreal 

1841 

Caldicott,  Alfred  James  . 

Worcester 

1842 

near  Glouces- 
ter 

1897 

Fleischer,  Reinhold 

Dahsau, 
Silesia 

1842 

Gadsby,  Henry  Robert     . 

Hackney 

1842 

Sullivan,  Sir  Arthur  S.     . 

London 

1842 

London 

1900 

Thomas,  G.  A. 

Reich  enbach 

1842 

St.  Petersburg 

1870 

Whiting,  George  Elbridge 

Holliston, 
Mass. 

1842 

Whitney,  Sam.  Brenton   . 

Woodstock, 
Vt. 

1842 

Blumenthal,  Paul      . 

Steinau-on- 
Oder 

1843 

Diemer,  Louis 

Paris 

1843 

Dyer,  Arthur  E. 

Frome,  Eng. 

1843 

England 

1902 

Florio,  Caryl     . 

Tavistock 

1843 

Bridge,  Sir  John  Fred. 

Oldbury,  Eng 

1844 

De  Mol,  Fran9ois-Marie  . 

Brussels 

1844 

Ostend 

1883 

Flagler,  Isaac  Van  Vleek 

Albany 

1844 

Fliigel,  Ernest  Paul 

Stettin 

1844 

Gigout,  Eugene 

Nancy 

1844 

Gradener,  Hermann,  Th. 

Otto      .... 

Kiel 

1844 

Martin,  Sir  Geo.  C. 

Lambourne, 
Eng. 

1844 

Peace,  Albert  Lister 

Huddersfield 

1844 

Vasseur,  Leon 

Bapaume 

1844 

Gladstone,  P' ranees,  Edw. 

Summertown, 
Eng. 

1844 

Bartlett,  Homer  Newton 

Olive,  N.  Y. 

1S45 

Bernard,  Emile 

Marseilles 

1845 

Boise,  Otis  Bardwell 

Oberlin,  O. 

1845 

Crament,  John  Maude 

Yorkshire 

1845 

Hewlett,  Thomas     . 

? 

1845 

? 

1874 

Riseley,  George 

Bristol 

1845 

Widor,  Charles  Marie 

Lyons 

1845 

Piutti,  Karl 

Elgersburg 

1846 

Leipzig 

1902 

Root,  Frederick  Wood- 

man 

Boston,  Mass 

.1846 

Wingham,  Thomas  . 

London 

1846 

London 

1893 

Blake,  Chas.  Dupee 

Walpole, 
Mass. 

1847 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


335 


Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

Name. 

Birlh. 

Death. 

Forchhammer,  Theodor  . 

Schiers 

1847 

Ihffe,  Frederick 

Leicester, 
Eng. 

1847 

Keeton,  Haydn 

Derbyshire 

1847 

Rogers,  Roland 

W.  Bromwich 

1847 

Allen,  Nathan  H.     . 

Marion,  Mass. 

1848 

Attrup,  Karl     . 

Copenhagen 

1848 

Bowman,  Edw.  Morris 

Barnard,  Vt. 

1848 

Falk,  Louis 

Germany 

1848 

Frost,  Chas.  Joseph 

Westbury  on 
Trym 

1848 

Frost,  Henry  Frederick    . 

London 

1848 

Gleason,  Fred  Grant 

Middletown, 
Conn. 

1848 

Kniese,  Julius  . 

Roda,  nr.  Jena  1848 

Kretzschmar,  August 

F.  H.             ... 

Olbernham, 
Sax. 

1848 

Nicholl,  Horace  Wadham 

Tipton,  Eng. 

1848 

Parry,  Sir  Chas.  Hubert 

Hastings 

Bournemouth 
Eng. 

1848 

Shepard,  Thomas  Griffin 

Madison, 
Conn. 

1848 

Wangemenn,  Otto   . 

Loritz-on-the- 
Peene 

1848 

Wilkins,  Hervi  D.    . 

Italy,  N.  Y. 

1848 

Armbrust,  Karl  F.    . 

Hamburg 

1849 

Hanover 

1896 

Biedermann,  Edw.  Julius 

Milwaukee, 
Wis. 

1849 

Lloyd,  Chas.  Harford 

Thornbury, 
Eng. 

1849 

Wiegand,  August     . 

Liege 

1849 

Bonvin,  Ludwig 

Siders,  Swit- 
zerland 

1850 

Claussman,  Aloys    . 

Uffholz, 
Alsace 

1850 

Mann,  Arthur  Henry 

Norwich,  Eng 

.1850 

Marchant,  Arthur,  Wil.    . 

London 

1850 

Crowest,  Frederick  J. 

London 

1850 

Eddy,  Clarence  H.  . 

Greenfield, 
Mass. 

1851 

Foster,  Miles  Birket 

London 

1851 

Walter,  Geo.  Wm. 

New  York 

1851 

Batchelder,  J.  C.       . 

Topsham,  Vt 

1852 

Pyne,  James  K. 

Bath 

1852 

336 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


M    >    «>n 

Place  and  Date  of 

Place  and  Date  of 

rVAME. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Spinney,  Walter  S. 

Salisbury 

1852 

?                    1894 

Stanford,  Chas.  V.  . 

DubUn 

1852 

Vincent,  Chas.  John 

Houghton  -  le 

- 

Spring,  Dur 

- 

ham 

1852 

Eyre,  Alfred  James 

London 

1853 

Bridge,  Joseph  Cox 

Rochester 

1853 

Dunham,  Henry  Morton 

Brockton, 

Mass. 

1853 

Goetschius,  Percy     . 

Paterson,N.J. 

1853 

Homeyer,  Paul  Joseph     . 

Osterode 

1853 

Rousseau,  Samuel    . 

Paris 

1853 

Selby,  Bertram  Luard 

Kent,  Eng. 

1853 

Chadwick,  Geo.  Whitfield 

Lowell,  Mass 

1854 

Hale,  Philip      . 

Norwich,  Vt. 

1854 

Ochs,  Traugott 

Altenfeld 

1854 

Russell,  Louis  Arthur 

Newark,  N.  J 

1854 

King,  Oliver  A. 

London 

1855 

Messager,  Andre  Chas. 

Prosper 

Montlucon 

'allier 

1855 

Renaud,  Albert 

Paris 

i8s5 

White,  John     . 

W.  Springfield, 

Mass. 

1855 

Bird,  Arthur     . 

Cambridge, 

Mass. 

1856 

Brewer,  John  Hyatt 

Brooklyn, 

N.  Y. 

1856 

Elgar,  Edw.  Wil.      . 

Broadheath, 
Worcester, 

England 

1857 

Pasmore,  Henry  Bickford 

Jackson,  Wis 

1857 

Spinney,  Rev.  T.  Her- 

bert S.           .         .         . 

Salisbury 

1857 

Kohout,  Franz 

Hostin,  Boh. 

1858 

Shelley,  Harry  Rowe 

New  Haven, 

Conn. 

1858 

Coombs,  Chas.  Whitney  . 

Bucksport, 

Me. 

x8S9 

Smith,  Gerrit    . 

Hagerstown, 

Md. 

1859 

Haynes,  Walter  Battison  . 

Kemprey, 

Eng. 

1859 

Erb,  Maria  Joseph   . 

Strassburg 

i860 

Woyrsch,  Felix  von 

Troppau, 

Silesia 

i860 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 


337 


XT  .  ..w^ 

Place  and  Date  of      i 

Place  and  Date  of 

JN  AME. 

Birth. 

Death. 

Bossi,  Marco  Enrico 

Salo,  Italy 

1861 

Truette,  Everett  E.  . 

Rockland, 

Mass. 

1861 

Owst,  Wilberfoss  Geo.     . 

London 

1861 

Wild,  Harrison  M. 

Hoboken, 

N.J. 

1861 

Woodman,  Raymond 

Huntington 

Brooklyn, 

N.  Y. 

1861 

Boellmann,  Leon 

Ensisheim 

1862 

Paris                   1897 

Chapius,  Augusti-Paul-     . 

Jean  Baptiste 

Dampierre- 

sur-Salon 

1862 

Harris,  Charles  Albert 

Edwin 

London 

1862 

Mirande,  Hippolyte 

Lyons 

1862 

Walter,  Cari     . 

Cransberg, 

Taunus 

1862 

Bennett,  George  John 

Andover,  Eng 

1863 

Combs,  Gilbert  Raynolds 

Philadelphia, 

Pa. 

1863 

Noszler,  Karl  Eduard 

Reichenbach 

1863 

Parker,  Horatio  Wil. 

Auburn  dale. 

Mass. 

1863 

Pierne,  Henri-Constant-  . 

Gabriel 

Metz 

1863 

Sinclair,  George  R. 

Croydon,  Eng 

1863 

Shepard,  Frank  Hartson  . 

Bethel,  Conn 

1863 

Tonking,  Henry  C. 

Camborne 

1863 

West,  John  Ebenezer 

So.  Hackney, 

London 

1863 

Tebaldini,  Giovanni 

Brescia 

1864 

Cari,  WU.  Crane       . 

Bloomfield, 

N.J. 

1865 

HolUns,  Alfred 

Hull,  Eng. 

1865 

Lemare,  Edwin  H.   . 

Ventnor,  Eng 

.1865 

Donizetti,  Alfredo    . 

Smyrna 

1867 

Davies,  Henry  Walford 

Owestry 

1869 

Dunkley,  Ferdinand 

London 

1869 

Goodrich,  Wallace  . 

Newton, 

Mass. 

1871 

BQsser,  Henri-Paul  . 

Toulouse 

1872 

Loud,  John  Hermann 

Weymouth, 

Mass. 

1873 

Dethier,  Gaston  M. 

Liege 

1875 

INDEX 


Abeille,  Joh.  Chr.  Ludwig,  109. 
Adam,  Adolphe,  161. 
Adams,  Thomas,  137,  147,  203. 
Adlung,  Jacob,  106. 
Aichinger,  Gregor,  10. 
Albrechtsberger,  Joh.  Georg,  107, 

108,  no. 
Alcock,  John,  125. 
Allen,  Nathan  H.,  276. 
Alraschid,  Haroun,  3. 
Amner,  John,  39. 
Andrews,  G.,  295. 
Andrews,  J.  Warren,  288,  289. 
Archer,  Frederick,  212-215,  222. 
Armstroff,  Andreas,  loi. 
Arne,  Doctor,  126. 
Arnold,  Samuel,  39,  127,  128. 
Aspull,  112. 
Attwood,  Thomas,  128-130,  186, 

192,  234,  235. 
Austin,  J.  T.,  310. 

Babcock,  W.  J.,  269. 

Bach  (other  than  J.  S.),  74-76, 
79,  98,  99,  103,  105,  106,  115, 
148. 

Bach,  J.  S.,  6,  9,  10,  12,  16,  20, 
22,  70,  74,  76-98,  100,  102, 
103,  104,  105,  106,  107,  III, 
131,  132,  138,  139,  140,  142, 
143,  146,  147,  149,  151,  153, 
155.  157.  158,  173.  202,  203, 
221,  222,  234,  236,  237,  250, 
254,  260,  292,  297,  298. 


Baldwin,  Samuel  A.,  270,  294. 
Bancroft,  Silas  A.,  261. 
Bannister,  John,  67. 
Barcroft,  George,  39. 
Barker,  C.  S.,  303,  304,  305,  309. 
Barnard,  Rev.  John,  41. 
Barnby,  Sir  Joseph,  238. 
Barrel!,  Edgar  P.,  295. 
Barrett,  Wm.  A.,  29,  60,  216. 
Batiste,    Antoine    E.,    162-166, 

199,  274,  275. 
Batten,  Adrian,  39. 
Battishill,  Jonathan,  127. 
Beale,  H.  W.,  274,  281. 
Beckwith,  128. 
Beethoven,  L.  von,  19,  107,  108, 

no,  155. 
Bennett,  Joseph,  233,  237,  238. 
Bennett,  Sir    W.  Sterndale,  25, 

226. 
Benoist,  Francois,  161,  167,  181. 
Berkely,  Bishop,  241. 
Bernhard,  5,  23. 
Best,  W.  T.,  193,   199-205,  219, 

222,  224,  229,  272,  287,   298, 

306. 
Bevin,  Elway,  36. 
Bird,  Arthur,  150. 
Bishop,  Sir  Henry,  134. 
Bishop,  J.  C,  302,  303.  309. 
Bissell,  Simeon,  281,  282. 
Bissell,  Thomas,  281. 
Blitheman,  William,  33. 
Blondell,  249. 


339 


340 


INDEX 


Blow,  John,  47,  48,  50,   52,   56, 

57,  5^'  60. 

Boely,  Alexandre,  158. 
Booth,  Jos.,  303,  304,  309. 
Bossi,  Enrico,  184,  185. 
Bowman,  Edward  Morris,  275. 
Boyce,  Dr.  William,  39,  46,  48, 

58,  62,  121,  122,  124,  126,  127, 
128. 

Brattle,  Thomas,  239. 
Bridge,  Joseph  Cox,  225. 
Bridge,  Sir  John,  225,  275. 
Bridge,  R.,  302. 
Brind,  Richard,  61. 
Britton,  Thomas,  66. 
Bromfield,  Edward,  242,  243. 
Brooks,  Henry  M.,  243. 
Brown,  P.  B.,  295. 
Bruhns,  Nikolaus,  22. 
Bryceson,  305. 
Buck,  Dudley,  268-271,  272. 
Bull,  Dr.  John,  33-36. 
Buononcini,  61. 
Burdette,  George  A.,  295. 
Burkenhead,  John  L.,  245. 
Burney,  Doctor,   5,  60,  70,   125, 

126. 
Busby,  Doctor,  128,  129. 
Biisser,  Henry  Paul,  182. 
Buttstedt,  J.  H.,  loi. 
Buxteiiude,  Dietrich,  20-22,  65, 

77,  78,  120. 
Byiield,  302. 
Byrd,  William,  31,  32,  33,  37. 

Callcott,  John  Wall,  128,  129. 
Callaerts,  Joseph,  183. 
Calvisius,  Seth,  11. 
Camidge,  John,  128. 
Caniidge,  Matthew,  129. 
Camidge.  Jr.,  John,  129. 
Capocci,  Gaetano,  184. 
Capocci,  Filippo,  184,  185. 
Carl,  William  C,  286-294. 
Carter,  Ahce,  279. 
Carulli,  Gustavo,  171. 
Casson,  307. 

Cavaille-Coll,  173,  178,  303. 
Cavalli,  Pietro  F.,  27. 


Chadwick,  George  W.,  154,  295. 

Charlemagne,  2. 

Chauvet,   Charles   Alexis,    159, 

170,  I73' 
Childe,  William,  36,  39,  40. 
Chipp,  Dr.  Edward,  193,  194. 
Chorley,    Henry    F.,    141,    144, 

219. 
Chouquet,  Gustave,  168. 
Clarke,  Jeremiah,  48,  50,  57,  58, 

61. 
Clarke,  Rev.  F.  Scotson,  217. 
Clementi,  18. 
Clemm,  John,  242. 
Clerembault,  162. 
Cliquot,  178. 
Coerne,  Louis,  295. 
Colborne,  Langdon,  228. 
Cooke,  Benjamin,  54,  124,  127. 
Cooke,  Henry,  47,  50. 
Cooper,  George,    191,   192,  216, 

231. 
Cooper,  Samuel,  249. 
Coppeau,  162. 
Corelli,  57. 
Corey,  N.  J.,  295. 
Corfe,  128,  [97,  198,  228,  250. 
Coward,  James,  199. 
Croft,  William,   48,  55,   57,  58, 

59,61. 
Crotch,    Doctor,    129,   133,   135, 

136,  224. 
Ctesibius,  i. 
Cummings,  302,  308. 
Cushman,  Charlotte,  256. 
Cutter,  E.,  295. 

Dallarn,  Ralph,  40,  43,  300. 
Dallam,  Robert,  43,  300. 
Dallam,  Thomas,  300. 
Davenant,  William,  42. 
Dehn,  S.  W.,  149. 
Delibes,  169. 
Despres,  Josquin,  7. 
Dethier,  Gaston  M.,  293. 
Dietsch,  176. 
Dipper,  244. 
Douglas,  Ernest,  295. 
Draghi,  John  Baptista,  51,  52. 


INDEX 


341 


Dubois,  C.  F.  Th.,  159,  168-170, 

177,  17S,  182. 
Dubourg,  Matthew,  67. 
Ducis,  Benoit,  7. 
Ducroquet,  303. 
Duddington,  Anthony,  28. 
Dunham,   Henry   M.,    283,   284, 

294,  295. 
Dupuis,  Thomas  Saunders,  126. 
Dwight,  J.  S.,  250. 

Eberlin,  Joh.  Ernst,  106. 
Eddy,  Clarence,    150,    282,  283, 

286,  294. 
Elvey,  Sir  George,  195,  210,  216, 

219. 
Elwart,  Professor,  172. 
England,  G.  P.,  69. 
Enstone,  Edward,  240. 
Erbach,  Christian,  10. 
Erben,  241. 
Erdmann,  85. 
Erich,  David,  22. 
Eybler,  107. 

Faber,  Nicolas,  4. 

Faisst,  E.  G.  F.,  140,  152. 

Falk,  Louis,  275. 

Farrant,  Richard,  32. 

Faure,  Gabrieli  Urbain,  176,  177. 

Festing,  Rev.  Michael,  62. 

Fetis,  177,  183. 

Fink,  140. 

Flagler,  I.  van  Vleck,  274. 

Flight  &  Robson,  137. 

Flight,  B.,  302,  308. 

Foote,  Arthur,  295. 

Franck,  Cesar,  159, 177,  181,  182, 

292. 
Frescobaldi,  G.,  15,  26,  27,  118. 
Friese,  Heinrich,  82. 
Froberger,  J.  J.,  14-16,  38. 
Fux,  Joh.  Joseph,  17-20,  113. 

Gabrieli,  Andrea,  23-25. 
Gabrieli,  G.,  8,  12,  24,  114,  183. 
Gansbacher,  Johann,  no. 
Garrett,    George    Mursell,    211, 
238. 


Gauntlett,  Doctor,  146,  187,  188, 

193.  304-306,  309. 
Gerber,  Heinrich  N.,  107. 
Giafur,  3. 

Gibbons,  Christopher,  15,38,  42 
Gibbons,  Rev.  Edward,  36,  38. 
Gibbons,  Ellis,  37. 
Gibbons,  Orlando,  36-39. 
Gibbs,  Miss  Grace,  242. 
Gigout,  Eugene,  159,  176. 
Giles,  James,  282. 
Godard,  B.,  170. 
Goodrich,    Wallace,    291,    292, 

296. 
Goodson,  250. 
Goss,  Sir   John,   186,    187,   216, 

226,  234-236. 
Graff,  Johann,  loi. 
Gram,  Hans,  246. 
Grani,  Aloys,  25. 
Gray,  136. 

Gray  &  Davison,  199. 
Greene,  Maurice,  58,  61,  62,  70, 

121,  122,  125. 
Grover,  Hon.  W.,  257. 
Grunicke,  294. 
Guilmant,  A.,  158,  159,  165,  170, 

175.  177.  178,   182,  204,    222, 

275,   2S6,  287,  291,  294,    295, 

314.315- 
Gyles,  Nathaniel,  32. 
Gyrowetz,  no. 

Hale,  Philip,  150,  296. 
Hall,  Walter  E.,  281,  294. 
Handel,    Georg     Friedrich,   61, 

62,  75' 77.  81,88-97,  123.  125, 

130,  172,  173,  197,  201,  244. 
Harris,  Renatus,  43,  52,  300,  301. 
Harris,  Thomas,  43,  300. 
Hassler,  Leo,  24. 
Haupt,   Karl    August,    148-151, 

266,  271,  273,  275,  276,    286, 

287,  289. 
Hauptmann,  226,  251,  269. 
Haus,  Henry  de,  282. 
Hawkins,  Sir  John,  70. 
Haydn,  Joseph,  19,  no,  130. 
Hayter,  A.  W.,  250. 


342 


INDEX 


Hayter,  George  F.,  250. 

Heitmann,  Johann  J.,  82. 

He  ring,  140. 

Herman,  Wex,  279. 

Herzog,  Johann  Georg,  140,  151, 

152. 
Hesse,   Adolph    Friedrich,    147, 

148. 
Hewitt,  Miss  (Ostinelli),  249. 
Hildebrand,  87. 
Hill  &  Son,  187,  207,  305. 
Hingston,  John,  42. 
Hodges,  Edward,  246,  247. 
Holland,  247. 

Hook  &  Hastings,  243,  260. 
Hope-Jones,  305,  307,  309. 
Hopkins,    E.    J.,    189-192,    211, 

217,  222,  238. 
Hopkins,  John,  189. 
Hopkins,  Thomas,  189. 
Houghwart,  Charles,  281. 
Howland,  C.  A.,  295. 
Humfrey,  Pelham,  47,  50. 
Hummel,  107. 

Inglott,  WilHam,  36. 
Isham,  John,  58. 

Jackson,  Dr.  G.  F.,  246,  249 
Jacob,  Benjamin,  132,  133. 
Jordan,  Abraham,  301,  302. 

Kauffmann,  George,  loi. 
Kerl,  Johann  Kaspar,  16,  17. 
King,  Charles,  61. 
Kirchoff,  Gottfried,  loi. 
Kittel,  Joh.  Christian,   105,   106, 

III. 
Kleber,  Henry,  279. 
Klein,  Bernhard,  148. 
Knake,  279. 

Knecht,  Justin  Henry,  108. 
Knoetchel,  245. 
Krebs,  Joh.  Tobias,  104. 
Krebs,  Ludwig,  104. 
Kuhnau,  Johann,  65,  lOl. 

Lablache,  L.,  194. 

Lang,  B.  J.,  252, 253, 255, 256,  295. 


Lange,  Samuel  de,  158. 
Lavves,  Henry,  42. 
Lefebure-Wely,    160,    161,    162, 

178. 
Lemare,  Edwin  H.,  231. 
Lemmens,  N.  J.,  159,   166,   167, 

172,  183,  206. 
Leporin,  64. 
Lieding,  George  D.,  22. 
Liszt,  F.,  222. 
Locke,  Matthew,  47,  49. 
Locke,  Warren  A.,  296. 
Loosemore,  H.,  43. 
Loosemore,  J.,  301. 
Loret,  159. 

Loud,  J.  Hermann,  293,  294. 
Lowe,  Edward,  46. 
Lully,  47,  113. 
Lux,  F.,  222. 
Luzzaschi,  L.,  26. 

MacCaffrey,  279. 

MacDougall,    H.   C,    285,   286, 

296. 
Macfarren,  Sir  George,  231. 
Macfarren,  Walter,  231. 
MacLean,  Doctor,  300. 
Mailly,    Alphonse,    J.    E.,    183, 

206. 
Mallet,  245. 

Marchand,  Louis,  80,  81,  159. 
Marmontel,  182. 
Marpurg,  18,  107. 
Martin,  Sir  George,  229-231,  238. 
Mason,  Dr.  Lowell,  261,  262. 
Massenet,  177,  182. 
Mattheson,    Johann,  64,  65,  88, 

89,  90. 
Maxson,  Frederick,  290,  291. 
Mellor,  C.  C,  281,  282. 
Mellor,  John,  281. 
Mendelssohn,  145-147,  151,  152, 

155,   188,   192,   194,   202,   203, 

206,  236,  237,  260. 
Merkel,   Gustav,  140,   152,    153, 

165,  222. 
Merklin,  173. 

Merulo,  Claudio,  24,  25,  114. 
Meyerbeer,  no. 


Il^DEX 


343 


Middelschulte,     Wilhelm,     289, 

290,  294. 
Milton,  John,  41. 
Moitessier,  304. 
Moran,  248. 
Morgan,  George  W.,    150,    256, 

259,  260,  272. 
Morgan,  J.  P.,  275. 
Morley,  John,  33. 
Morse,    Charles    H.,    284,    285, 

296. 
Moscheles,  I.,  136,  226,  251,  269. 
Mosel,  107. 

Mozart,  19,  129,  223,  224,  236. 
Mueller,  F.  F.,  251. 
Muffat,  August  G.,  113. 
Muffat,  George,  113. 
Miiller,  August  E.,  109. 
Mulliner,  Thomas,  30. 
Mundy,  John,  32,  39. 

Nares,  Doctor,  125. 
Naumann,  140. 
Neidermeyer,  176,  182. 
Nichol,  Horace  W.,  277,  278. 
Nivert,  162. 
Norris,  Homer  A.,  296. 

Oakeley,  Sir  Herbert,  112,  210, 

230,  238. 
Okeghem,  Jean,  7. 
O'Shea,  John,  296. 
Otten,  Joseph,  279. 
Otto,  Julius,  153. 
Ouseley,  Sir    Frederick,  38,   46, 

194-198,  216,  226,  228. 

Pachelbel,  Johann,  100,  103, 1 17- 

119. 
Paine,  John  Knowles,    150,  256, 

267,  268,  274. 
Parchebel,  C.  T.,  241. 
Parker,  Horatio  W.,  154,  296. 
Parker,  J.  C.  D.,  251,  252. 
Parratt,  Henry,  218. 
Parratt,  Thomas,  218. 
Parratt,    Sir   Walter,   216,    218- 

224. 
Peace,  Albert  Lister,  224. 


Pearce,  Stephen  Austen,  266. 

Pepin,  2. 

Pepusch,    Doctor,    67,    68,    121, 

123,  124,  125. 
Pepys,  Samuel,  47,  50,  124. 
Petter,  104. 
Pfefferkorn,  Otto,  295. 
Phillips,  Arthur,  46. 
Pierne,  H.  C.  G.,  181. 
Piggott,  Francis,  57. 
Plaidy,  226,  251,  269. 
Prastorius,  Bartholomseus,  11 
Prastorius,  Hieronymus,  10. 
Praetorius,  Johann,  11. 
Prastorius,  Michael,  11,  25. 
Preindl,  Joseph,  109,  iii. 
Prout,  E.,  222. 
Purceil,  Daniel,  61. 
Purcell,  Edward,  51,  $2. 
Purceil,    Henry,   47-57,   60,   61, 

68. 
Purcell,  Thomas,  50,  51. 

Radcliffe,  W.,  295. 

Randall,  Doctor,  136. 

Redford,  John,  28. 

Reinken,  John  Adam,  9,  22,  82. 

Reissiger,  153. 

Reitz,  226,  251,  269. 

Rheinberger,  J.  G.,  153-158,  223, 

291. 
Richter,    E.   F.,    140,    226,   251, 

269,  288. 
Rimbault,  46,  191. 
Rinck,  106,  111-113. 
Riseley,  George,  228,  229. 
Roberts,  Dr.  Varley,  294. 
Rockstro,  19. 
Rogers,  Benjamin,  46. 
Rohback,  Henry,  282. 
Roosevelt,  309. 
Rue,  De  La,  7. 

Safford,  Charles  A.,  296. 
Saint-Saens,    C,    159,    167-169, 

176. 
Salome,  Th.  C,  159,  170. 
Savii,  Gianpolo,  25. 
Scarlatti,  Alessandro,  66,  107. 


344 


INDEX 


Scarlatti,  Domenico,  66. 
Schaab,  140. 
.Scheibe,  Johann,  86,  87. 
Scheidt,  Samuel,  9,  26,  115. 
Schein,  Johann  H.,  il. 
Schellenburg,  140. 
Schenuit,  John,  279. 
Schiedemann,  Heinrich,  9. 
Schieferdecker,  J.  C,  65. 
Schmidt,    Bernhard,    40,  43,  44, 

,  52.  301- 

Schmidt,  Georges,  162. 
Schneider,  Friedrich  Joh.,  149. 
Schneider,    Joh.    Gottlob,    139- 

145'  149'  152,  210,  269. 
Schubart,  104. 
Schulhoff,  168. 
Schulz,  Jerom,  10. 
Schumann,  153. 
Schumann,  Gustav,  271. 
Schurig,  140. 
Schiitz,    Heinrich,     11,    12,    13, 

25- 

Schutz,  140. 

Scott,  Chas.  P.,  296. 

Sejan,  Louis,  160,  161,  162. 

Sejan,  N.,  139,  160,  162. 

Selby,  Edward,  244,  245. 

Seyfried,  107. 

Smart,  Sir  George,  189,  192. 

Smart,    Henry,     188,    189,    199, 

220-222. 
Smith,  Gerrit,  286. 
Smith,  J.  C,  125. 
Snetzler,  Johann,  302. 
Spalding,  Walter  R.,  296. 
Spark,  Doctor,  164,  198,  199. 
Spitta,  Phillip,  88,  114,  115,  117. 
Spohr,  L.,  134,  236. 
Stainer,  Sir  John,  195,  215,  222, 

226-228,  230,  231,  238. 
Stamaty,  C,  167. 
Stanfield,  W.,  296. 
Stanley,  John,  124,  125. 
Steggall,  Doctor,  231. 
Sterling,  W.  S.,  295. 
Stewart,  Dr.  H.  J.,  227,  292. 
Stockwell,  248,  249. 
Swan,  Allen  W.,  296. 


Taft,  Frank,  294. 

Tallys,  Thomas,  31,  32,  37. 

Taverner,  John,  28,  29. 

Taylor,  Rayner,  246,  248,  249. 

Taylor,  S.  P.,  249. 

Telemann,  George  Ph.,  102,  103, 

107. 
Thayer,   Eugene    W.,    150,    255, 

256,  266,  267,  286. 
Thiele,  Louis,  149,  151. 
Thomas,  Ambroise,  169. 
Thomas,    Theodore,    270,    273, 

290. 
Thunder,  H.  G.,  295. 
Tilborghs,  Joseph,  183. 
Timm,  Henry  Christian,  248. 
Titelouze,  Jean,  158. 
Tombelle,  F.  de  la,  182. 
Tbpfer,  140. 

Tourjee,  Dr.  E.,  252,  257. 
Travers,  124. 
Truette,  E.    E.,    163,    170,    203, 

287,  288,  296. 
Tucker,  H.  G.,  253. 
Tuckerman,  Dr.  S.  P.,  256,  258- 

260. 
Tudway,  39,  56. 
Turle,  James,  190. 
Turner,  William,  47. 
Tye,  Christopher,  28,  29. 

Upham,  G.  Baxter,  254. 

Valbeke,  L.  Van,  5. 

Valentini,  16. 

Van  der  Broeck,  166. 

Van  Eyken,  140. 

Van  Os,  Albert,  5. 

Verscbneider,  303. 

Vetter,  Nikolaus,  loi. 

Vilback,  A.  C.  R.  de,  167. 

Vitalian,  2. 

Vogler,  Joh.  Caspar,  104,  no. 

Vogt,  A.  S.,  295. 

Von  Hagen,  245. 

Walcker,  E.  F.  &  Son,  254-256. 
Walther,  Johann,  loi,  103. 
Warren,  George  W.,  267. 


INDEX 


345 


Warren,  Richard  H.,  267. 
Warren,    Samuel    P.,    271,    286, 

296. 
Webb,  George  James,  253,  254. 
Weigl,  107. 
Weldon,  58,  60,  61. 
Wesley,  Charles,  131,  234. 
Wesley,  Samuel,    128,    130,  133, 

234- 
Wesley,  S.  S,  133-135,  198,  235, 

237,  306. 
Whelpley,  B.  L.,  296. 
Whiting,   George   E.,   251,  271- 

273'  294- 
Whitney,  S.  B.,  274,  296. 
Wider,  CM.,  159,  165,  173,  177, 

178,  291. 
Wiegand,  Auguste,  205,  206. 
Wieprecht,  266,  271. 


Wild,  Harrison  M.,  288,  294. 
Wilkins,  Hervi  D.,  276. 
Willaert,  Adrian,  23-25. 
Willcox,  John  H.,  255,  256,  260- 

263. 
Willis,  224,  304,  309. 
Wilson,  Doctor,  42. 
WoUe,  Fred.  J.,  295. 
Wood,  Anthony,  42. 
Woodman,  R.  II.,  294. 
Wry,  H.  E.,  296. 
Wiilcken,  Anna  M.,  83. 
Wulstan,  3. 

Young,  200. 

Zachau,  63. 

Zeuner,  Carl,  249,  258. 

Ziegler,  Joh.  Gotthilf,  105. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


REC'D  mm 
MAY     fl970 
IviAY  2     1970 

rviAY'l!-^197t 

aUG  9 '  ^988 

■'L 19  1988 

JAN     3  1994 

Sepo  muslib 
HEG    7  0» 

Form  L9-Series  4939 


UCLA  -  Music  Library 

ML  600  L13o  1902 


'i'lilihliillJlNlillllllilJllliill 

L  006  988  214  0 


MUSfO 
LIBRARY 

ML 
600 
L13o 
1902 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  530  308    6 


